


For You I'd Bleed Myself Dry

by amomentoflove



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst, Anxiety, Blood Drinking, Changing POVs, Depression, Fluff, Human Harry, Human Liam, Louis Tomlinson/OMC - Freeform, M/M, Past Abuse, Past Relationship(s), Slow Burn, Smut, Soulmates, Time Jump, Vampire Louis, Vampire Niall, Vampire Zayn, Vampires, king!Louis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2019-12-26 09:50:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 49,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18280706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amomentoflove/pseuds/amomentoflove
Summary: Harry is cold. His bones ache. Every movement draws a whimper from his cracked lips. The stone underneath him is practically like ice. He’s numb, but can clearly feel the sharp pains on his neck every timeHevisits him. Below the icy cold, the achy bones, and the pain on his neck, Harry Styles is pissed. There’s a fire burning in his mind and the anger for the man who keeps him imprisoned is the fuel. He despises him, the man who feeds from him and is a daily reminder that Harry’s suffering won’t end. The man who keeps Harry so weak that he can barely move most days. Harry’s waiting for the day when his owner will go too far and finally kill him. Death must be better than this cold hell he is in.It won’t happen, though.Hehas a way of keeping Harry’s heart beating. So for now, all Harry can do is wait for death to come.He’s been waiting for years.





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> This fic has been sitting in my drafts for over two years and I'm so happy I was finally able to brush the dust off of it and get it finished! In Part One, Harry is very fragile and has dark thoughts about life. Please take note of the tags and take care of yourself while reading this fic.
> 
> A huge thank you to my [beta](https://twitter.com/rogueskimo), [Liz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dont_Stop_Larry/pseuds/Dont_Stop_Larry), for letting me text you at random times of the day when I was stuck and had questions. I'm so thankful for you!
> 
> Also the gorgeous art is by [styleandsin](http://styleandsin.tumblr.com)!

 

**Prologue**  

 

_Harry_

Harry is cold. His bones ache. Every movement draws a whimper from his cracked lips. The stone underneath him is practically like ice. He’s numb, but can clearly feel the sharp pains on his neck every time _He_ visits him. Below the icy cold, the achy bones, and the pain on his neck, Harry Styles is pissed. There’s a fire burning in his mind and the anger for the man who keeps him imprisoned is the fuel. He despises him, the man who feeds from him and is a daily reminder that Harry’s suffering won’t end. The man who keeps Harry so weak that he can barely move most days. Harry’s waiting for the day when his owner will go too far and finally kill him. Death must be better than this cold hell he is in.

It won’t happen, though. _He_ has a way of keeping Harry’s heart beating. So for now, all Harry can do is wait for death to come

He’s been waiting for years.

 

Harry is still curled up in the corner of the basement when he hears shouting coming from upstairs. He has enough energy to lift his heat. Maybe _He_ finally is going to get rid of Harry once and for all. He hopes death comes soon. 

He hears someone coming down the stairs and he drops his head back in his arms. They must be moving again. It happens every once in awhile. Harry thinks _He_ gets into trouble somehow and has to make a mad dash out of whatever home they’re in. 

He never sees where they’re going. _He_ somehow keeps Harry unconscious for the move and when Harry wakes up, he’s in another cold, drafty basement.

“There’s a human down here!” someone shouts. The footsteps get closer. “Are you alright, lad?”

Harry can’t move, can’t say anything, can’t respond in any way. He’s so weak, he’s practically comatose. 

A hand moves his head back and Harry tensed up thinking that this is another one of _His_ friends who needs to feed. Fingers press against his neck—up against one of the many bruises on his body. He lets out a small groan. 

“Shit,” the voice says. “I need medical down here ASAP,” the voice says but not any louder than what would be used in casual conversation. Another vampire, then. Is this another one of _His_ visitors? “You’re going to be alright, lad. He won’t hurt you anymore.” 

Harry doubts it. His owner would always be there with him, no matter what. _He_ would be there. _He_ said so multiple times. It was one of the only things his owner actually told Harry. 

_Don’t worry. I can follow you anywhere._  

_He_ would say this as if he were expecting Harry to have the energy to get up and run away one day. 

More footsteps approach and a blanket is draped over him. “I’m going to lift you now. Is that alright?”

“He can’t talk. The bastard practically drained him,” another voice says. “He needs to go to the hospital immediately. He’s top priority.”

“Understood, sir,” the first voice answers, and Harry feels arms wrap around him and lift him up effortlessly. His eyes are still closed as he’s carried through the house. He’s placed on something long and soft. He passes out before he realizes that he’s outside for the first time in months.

 

 

When Harry wakes up, the room is dark and there’s wires and cords attached to him - surely, they were pumping him full of the vitamins he’d been deprived of for so long. One was definitely monitoring his heart rate, and he could feel the tubes in his nose —oxygen. He opens his eyes and takes in the room. A hospital. He’s in a single room, curtains drawn. There’s a door right in front of him probably one that leads to the bathroom, and another off to his right, open wide. He sees white walls, white floors, white blankets, white white white. Someone dressed in light blue scrubs walks past and peeks in his room, and upon seeing him awake, she gasps and runs out of sight in the opposite direction of where she was headed before.

She comes back moments later with two men, one in a long white jacket, and the other dressed from head to toe in black.

“It’s good to see you awake, sir,” the man on the left says. “You must be very confused. You are at Sherdan Hospital ,and we’ve been pumping your body with nutrients and fluids—basically everything that your body has been deprived of during your stay with…” The man looks to the man on the right in all black, seemingly unsure of how to proceed.

The man in black sighs and picks up where the doctor left off. “With your previous owner. We were wondering if you could answer some questions about him.”

Harry stiffens and clenches the sheets in his hands. The machine to his left starts beeping erratically along with Harry’s heartbeat.

The man in black sighs and walks closer to Harry’s bed. “I promise he won’t hurt you anymore.”

Harry has to swallow several times and licks his lips before he can talk. “Is he dead?” he asks, his voice scratchy and rough from being unused for so long. It hurts to talk, he can feel the strain on his vocal cords, but he has to know.

The nurse and doctor exchange uneasy looks, but the other man remains stoic. “No. He ran off before we started searching the house. That’s why we’re hoping you could help us out.”

Harry turns away from the visitors and stares out the window. It’s nighttime—the moon is hanging high in the sky, and the stars are shining. He wishes he were one of those stars. That way, he’d be far far away from this place, these people, and this situation. “I…I can’t help you.”

“You might know something that could. Even the smallest thing. Will you try?”

Harry shrugs, not caring either way. If _He’s_ not dead then it’s only a matter of time before _He'll_ come back for Harry. He’ll never have any peace as long as _He_ is alive.

“Do you have any question for us before I start?” The man in black asks. 

There’s plenty Harry could ask. Where are my parents? My sister? What year is it? Why did you let something like this happen to me? Why couldn’t you protect me? Why did you let such cruel creatures like vampires rule society when all they do is take and take until you’re nothing at all?  But none of those came out of his mouth. 

“Why didn’t you let me die?”

He’s met with silence and Harry can practically feel the sympathy oozing out of their stares. They shouldn’t be sympathetic though. At this point, it’s what he wants. If they really cared, they’d let him have it. They’d let him die.

Finally, the doctor speaks up after too long of a silence. “Because you’re important.”

The man in black takes the seat next to Harry’s bed, blocking the view of the night sky.

“My name is Zayn Malik, I work for the Vampire Task Force. I’ve been assigned to your case. It’s okay if you don’t know the answers, just answer as best as you can.” Zayn waits a few beats before he starts. “How long were you there?”

Harry wets his lips and looks anywhere but at the vampire in front of him. Vampire. He should have known. They’re all over the world now. Generations ago, they came out of hiding and pronounced their superiority over the human race. Several high-ranking politicians and royals came out, so to say, as vampires, and it was realized that they practically ruled the world anyway. 

By the time Harry was born, there were schools built just for the training of humans to be Feeders for vampires. There were stipulations of course. Not just anyone could become a Feeder. Blood type was a huge part of it. Health of the human. Manners. That sort of thing. Even if a human completed Feeder school, they weren’t necessarily chosen to become a Feeder. Those that didn’t became a part of the donor system. Just like the blood drives to save humans in hospitals, there were drives just for vampires. 

Harry and his older sister, Gemma, were going to Feeder school. Their parents having put them in at a young age. Rising Feeders were given the best of the best. The best education, the best food, accommodations, everything. Even those who didn’t become a Feeder were treated well after their schooling.

Or so is how it was _supposed_ to be. Harry learned, soon after being purchased by _Him_ , that it was all lie, a huge smoke screen that fooled humans for generations.

“He bought me when I was nine. I think I’m twenty-five now.” Harry answers softly. His throat aches and he smacks his lips. He faintly hears the nurse leave the room, muttering about getting him some water and ice chips. There was the sound of a pen scratching against paper.

“Did he always keep you in the basement?”

Harry nods and repositions his feet, suddenly finding himself uncomfortable.

“Where there ever any others in the basement with you?”

_Harry leans against the cell door and stretches his arm as far out as he can. He’s trying to reach the apple that the boy in the cell across from him is offering. Harry wasn’t given any food that day and his stomach is eating itself. His fingers just brush the waxy skin of the apple and Harry starts crying because he can’t get it. A door upstairs slams open and Harry and the other boy quickly move away from the doors. Harry stomach groans at the loss of the apple but he has to push that feeling away. He curls in on himself and hopes that it’ll be quick this time. He hears the door across from him open and instead, the thought of what might happen to his friend almost scares him more. He hopes that it goes quickly for him._

Harry looks down at his arm, at the needle lodged in his skin giving him nutrients. He scratches at the tape keeping it in place and feels tempted to pull the IV out. He wonders if it will hurt. He nods and peeks over at the doctor keeping a close eye on his movements. “They n-never stayed for l-long. But…I was always there.”

“Do you know what happened to the others?”

There was one boy around his age who managed to give him food after _He_ stopped the boy from giving Harry his regular meals. The boy had snuck down to the cells to bring a few scraps of food and some water to him. Harry doesn’t know what happened to him after he was caught. Harry doesn’t remember seeing him after that fight. The boy might have been killed for helping Harry out. He pushes the image of the boy out of his mind and shakes his head.

“Do you have an idea where he would have gone?”

Harry shakes his head and wishes that the vampire would move away so he could look at the stars again.

“Is there anything you would like to tell me?” 

Harry shakes his head no again and Zayn glances over to the doctor. He gets up and goes over to to him and Harry hears them whispering.

“Once he’s strong enough to be transported, I’m going to take him to his new home.”

“He’s already been bought?” The nurse asks, shocked and Harry flinches at the information. 

The doctor laughs. “Of course. He’s AB-Neg. Vampires practically line up to get an AB-Neg personal feeder!”

“Dr. Richard,” Zayn warns as if Harry’s feelings could be hurt by the truth. Humans born with AB-Negative blood are immediately accepted into Feeder school if they were to apply. Harry couldn’t remember much of his childhood. Only a brightly colored room where other personal feeder children were raised and taught the do’s and don’t’s of being a personal feeder. He doesn’t remember much else, only the dark and pain that came with his first owner. And now he’s going to be sent to another and experience the same thing all over again. From one cage to another. He closes his eyes and once again, wishes for it all to end.

“Please don’t…” he whispers as tears gather at the corner of his eyes.

“I’m sorry?” The doctor asks as if he couldn’t hear it. They’re vampires, of course they heard what Harry said. He almost wants to scoff at the absurdity of the question.

“Please don’t send me to a-another… another one.” He opens his eyes and hopes they can sense his pleading.

More sympathetic looks are thrown his way and sense of unease arises in the room. 

Zayn hesitates for just a moment, sending the doctor and nurse a wary glance. “I’m sorry Harry, but I can’t do that.” He clasps his hands clasped in front of him. “Your new owner is a very powerful vampire. He’s expecting you as soon as you’re healthy enough to travel.”

Tears slip out of his eyes as he blinks. He takes a deep, shaky breath in. “Then please, just kill me. I don’t want to go back to… Please. Just let me die…” He begs, his voice breaking.

When no one moves or says anything, just giving him more damn sympathetic eyes as if he were a hurt puppy and not someone to take seriously, he feels himself begin to panic. He thrashes around, trying to tear himself from the bed, the needles, and the tubes.

“Kill me. I don’t want to go.” 

He says it over and over again, hoping that one of those times, it sticks. His hands scramble to tear the IV out of his arm— he has no use for any more nutrients. He doesn’t want them if they were only to prolong his life. He doesn’t want this life.

Strong hands hold him down, but that only makes him yell even more, becoming distraught and hysterical. “Please, please, just kill me. I want to die. Please.”

No one does. Not that he really thought they would. Vampires are prideful creatures., headstrong beings who only do what they want, never taking anyone else—especially humans—into consideration. He feels exhaustion hitting him, dragging him under and blacks out soon enough, willingly sinking into that darkness.

 

 

Harry hears beeping. A high-pitched sound coming somewhere to his left. He didn’t think that death would have such an annoying sound. He’s warmer, though. He’s laying on something soft, and it makes him want to sink in. He wants to stay there for eternity. He lets the darkness swallow him up once more.

 

 

The next time he’s awake, he opens his eyes slowly. The room’s lights are dimmed and he’s thankful. Lights are usually too bright for his eyes. 

“Oh, good,” a voice murmurs somewhere to his right. He tries turning his head towards the voice, but his neck burns. “Easy there, you’re going to be weak for awhile.” Through his cracked eyes, he sees the figure step closer and reach behind him. Harry groans and tries to keep his eyes open, but a heavy pressure in his mind turns his eyelids to lead and he falls back into darkness.

 

 

Later, probably much later, the room is still dark— only a lamp in the corner casts light across the room. The annoying beeping is gone, but the bed made of clouds is still underneath him. The pressure on his neck is gone and he wonders how long he’s been lying here. He’s weak, but he manages to roll onto his right side, facing a heavy wooden door. It’s obvious to him now that he’s no longer in the hospital.

The door opens and a man steps through. The light from the hallway keeps Harry from seeing the man’s face, but he can see the light bending around his small curvy frame. He has hips with a slight curve and thighs that are a stark difference than Harry’s own skinny, lanky limbs. 

“Are you awake, pet?” The man asks, his voice soft as he walks over to Harry’s bedside. 

Harry nods minutely and stays perfectly still as the man walks into the light, very curious as to who this man is, since he couldn’t possibly be a doctor.

Sharp cheekbones and piercing blue eyes are all Harry can take in as the man’s face comes into view. His body immediately stiffens when he sees those piercing blue eyes shimmer like two gems. He knows what that means. He’s not dead. He’s perfectly alive, but now in a new nest. A different cage. The vampire’s eyebrows clinch together when Harry whimpers but leans his head back to expose his neck. He has to be polite when it comes to his new owner. Good impressions might be able to help him. Maybe this one won’t be too violent. 

“Shhh,” the vampire soothes and sits on the edge of the bed, reaching a hand forward to cup Harry’s face and run his thumb over Harry’s cheekbone. “Don’t worry, pet. I’m not going to feed from you, no one will. You’re safe here.”

Harry shivers under the vampire’s touch and wonders how quick his death would be, whether or not this vampire likes his feeders to be brought up to perfect health before going on a binge and draining them dry. Some of _His_ friends suggested that he do that to Harry, but Harry’s old owner would just chuckle darkly. Harry keeps eye contact with his new owner, feeling very much like a fly caught in a Venus flytrap.

The vampire sighs deeply and stands up. “I’ll send food up shortly.” Then he’s out of the room and quietly closes the door. 

Harry’s stares, bewildered, after him and wonders what kind of vampire his new owner is. Maybe he’s one who likes to play mind games.

 

_Louis_

Louis Tomlinson stares at the closed door. He knew the boy was in a terrible situation with his last owner, but he didn’t know how bad it was. When Zayn updated him on the development in the case that’s been such a thorn in Louis’ side for decades, he knew he had to take Harry in. Had to protect him from the darkness he’s surely seen and that will surely still haunt him.

The mere sight of a vampire made the boy’s heart start pounding, Louis had heard it the moment they’d made eye contact for the first time. And his reaction to seeing Louis was to offer his neck? Louis hoped that in time, Harry Styles would learn that feeders are not suppose to live in fear. Feeders are revered in the vampire community. They provide life for vampires and are treated with the most loving care and attention. He can’t imagine what the boy has been through but he feels as if he’s going to find out soon.

Zayn is a part of a group of vampires who track down vampires like Harry’s last owner— ones that abuse and mistreat their feeders. From Harry’s reaction to a vampire, his previous owner must of been one of the worst ones. His lips pull back in a half snarl at the idea of Harry withering away under the so called “care” of his last owner. Harry has only been in Louis’ home for three weeks, after two months at the local hospital. 

Already, Louis wants to give Harry the world. The human hasn’t said one word to Louis, but he feels fiercely protective over him.

Footsteps from outside make Louis walk down the stairs and towards the front door. He opens the door just as Zayn walks up. 

“Malik,” Louis greets stiffly and Zayn’s posture matches.

“I just came by to check on Harry.”

Louis steps aside and lets the vampire cop enter.

“He’s in and out. Woke up for a moment and cringed but exposed his neck when he saw me. Like he’s been trained to do that,” Louis says glancing up the staircase towards Harry’s room.

“You weren’t trying to feed from him, were you?” Zayn asks accusingly. 

Louis stiffens and turns back to him.“Of course not, you know I won’t.”

Zayn sighs, dropping his tough officer persona, and tucks his hands in his pockets. “Niall’s still in Ireland?”

Louis nods, his housemate took his new Feeder to someplace in Ireland as a getaway trip and he’s been gone for a few months now. Despite his Feeder having been with Niall for several years, the vampire loves to spoil the man.

“I’ll call him to see if he could  possibly come back today. His Feeder might be able to talk to Harry. Make him less paranoid and can explain the situation, human to human. But you know how Niall and Liam are when they come back from vacations.”

“Acting like a pair of frat boys coming back from spring break,” Zayn says fondly but then slips on his tough act. “Call him though, I need to get back to work.” The vampire cop is gone faster than a heartbeat, and Louis closes the door behind him, eager to get rid of the man. Old tensions die hard, he supposes. 

 

  _Harry_

Harry is awake for about thirty minutes on what he thinks is the next day, and he’s barely got his eyes open when the door opens again. The lamp is still on, but the figure is a different one than last time, and they slowly lighten up the room. The overhead light must be on a dimmer. 

“Harry?” the figure says and quickly walks into the room, being mindful of the tray full of food he’s carrying. “I can’t believe it’s you! It’s been so long. I’m so glad you’re alive!”

Harry stares at the man, clearly human, and is filled with confusion. Is this a mind trick from his new owner? “Who are you?”

The man’s smile slides off his face and he sets the tray on the bedside table. “It’s me, Liam Payne? From the academy?”

Harry gives him a cautious look, grips the sheets a little tighter, and shakes his head. “I- I don’t know you.”

Liam’s smile waivers for just a moment before rising again, this time warmer. “That’s…that’s alright. Erm, I’ve brought you some food. Thought you might be hungry after all you’ve been through. Louis- he’s amazing. He’s been checking on you everyday to see how you’re doing. How are you feeling?”

Harry tries not to flinch at the news. Even _He_ didn’t come down to the cellar to feed from him every day. Harry raises his hand to his neck and brushes it down both his arms before going to his back and then down his torso. 

“You don’t need to do that,” Liam says softly, reaching over and taking Harry’s right hand in his own to stop him. Liam’s hands are warm and Harry sees him wince at the feeling of Harry’s cold ones. Liam pushes the table closer to Harry and lifts the cloche off to reveal a bowl of broth and crackers on the side.

“I-I… I do,” Harry protests.

Liam shakes his head and abandons the food to sit beside Harry, his right hand still in between his own. “Louis didn’t feed off of you. You’ve been recovering for a few months now. He said you were basically drained when you were found. You did have an IV for awhile while your blood replenished to make sure you got the right nutrients.” He pauses before saying quietly, “I’m so glad you’re alive.”

“I-” Harry stops himself because he knows from the way that Liam has talked about the vampire that this human is not on his side. Humans and vampires can never get along while vampires are still in power. They are nothing but horrible creatures. What a way to play mind games with him—sending a human in to try to force him into submission. 

Harry looks off to the side, uncomfortable with being near this human and he removes his hand from Liam’s to tuck it against his body. Liam must not know about the truth about vampires. He doesn’t know what Harry does.

“You need to get out of here,” Harry says, looking back at the human. He might be too far gone, but Liam looks to be healthy enough to escape. “Vampires can’t be trusted, they will kill you as soon as they’re done playing with you.”

“Is that what you really think?” Liam asks bewildered, his eyebrows furrowing. “I promise you, vampires aren’t like that. My owner—Louis too— they care about us. We’re feeders, they have to treat us well. Did…did your last owner make you think otherwise?”

Harry shakes his head vehemently. “No, that vampire is tricking you. You know they can play mind games with you.” He’s seen too many things that the vampires have done to those around him to make him think any other way. Liam is obviously being compelled to think this way. Harry knows some vampires have powers of compulsion. Liam’s owner must have them and is using it to keep Liam compliant while he slowly sucks him dry like an eternal tease.

“I highly d-doubt that he has been. I don’t believe that such creatures could even be empathetic with us humans. I’d like to be a-alone n-now.”

Liam studies him for a moment, not moving. “Harry, you have to trust me. Vampires aren’t like that. Well, there are a few out there like… but there are people in charge of stopping the mistreatment of Feeders.” When Harry doesn’t reply, Liam sighs and gets up. He starts walking out of the room before he turns around, “Please eat something. Even if you don’t believe me about the vampires, you have to eat something. I’ll be back soon.”

He leaves after that, and Harry is alone once more. 

He rolls over in bed and looks around the room. There’s a bay window with a seat tucked against the wall. Heavy curtains cover the glass and Harry wants to know what they hide. He needs to see where he is. For years, he’s been trapped in damp darkness. Whether he likes it or not, his new prison cell happens to have a window. He might as well take advantage of it.

He tries to lift himself up to get out of bed but he can’t. His arms shake with the effort of holding himself up and he collapses back onto the bed.

Tears threaten to fall and he takes several deep breaths to avoid it from happening. He knows he’s weak, has known he’s been really weak for as long as he can remember but this… this is frustrating. He rolls his head towards the side and eyes the food Liam has left for him. He debates eating it. He could refuse and let his body wither away but he knows that it won’t last for too long. His new owner has already had him hooked up to life saving machines once. He could easily do it again. He would probably do anything to prolong Harry’s miserable existence for whatever he had planned.

In the end, it’s the smell of the broth that changes his mind. He only had scraps of food before he woke up at the hospital. _He_ never like giving Harry too much, just enough to keep Harry alive. Certainly nothing that smelled as good as the broth in the bowl. 

He leans over and picks up the ceramic bowl filled with chicken broth and carefully brings a spoonful up to his mouth. It’s not too hot and he can feel it travel down and spread warmth throughout his chest. He takes another spoonful, and another, until half the broth is gone and his stomach is achingly full. 

He falls back against the pillows and feels a swell of tears rise up from his chest to his eyes. He tries to take deep breaths to keep them from falling but he’s very much unsuccessful. So this is his life now.

 

  _Louis_

From a floor below, Louis leans back in his chair. He sets his papers down on his desk and looks up in the direction of the newest addition in his household. He can smell the salt from Harry’s tears and can hear the sobs. He knows the boy is having a hard time adjusting. It was to be expected after being kept in such horrible conditions. He could hear Harry’s conversation with Liam. It didn’t go well. He tried not to listen in, but his curiosity and concern over the boy’s well-being took over.

Harry’s views on vampires doesn’t sit well with Louis. He expected it to some degree, but not to this extent. He could feel the deep sadness radiating off of the boy, and Louis longs to go in the room and use his manipulation to ease the boy’s mind and heart. But he won’t. He learned how detrimental something like emotional manipulation can be. He didn’t want to use it unless it was absolutely necessary. He wants Harry to _want_ to be here, and to learn that the evil he’s seen is not common. But more importantly, Louis wants Harry to be happy and safe.

He hears Liam walking down the stairs towards Louis’ office just seconds before a knock comes at the door.

“Come in, Liam,” Louis calls out, and the door opens. As he imagined, Liam looks devastated.

He lingers in the doorway, probably itching to get back to Niall. “I just wanted you to know that Harry might not want to talk to you or Niall for awhile.”

“I heard.”

Liam sighs and leans back against the doorway, his forehead wrinkled and his eyes starting to water. “I-I didn’t think he would be that bad off.”

Louis studies the human for only a moment. “Would you like me to help you feel better?” he offers gently, sensing the human’s unease and stress.

Liam looks up but shakes his head. “I think I’ll go find Niall instead, if that’s alright.”

“You’re not a guest here, Leemo,” Louis chuckles and he sees a crack of a smile start to form on Liam’s face at the nickname. “This is your home too.”

“Thanks, Louis.” With a nod, Liam steps out of the room and leaves Louis wondering what would be best for Harry. Should he give him space or should he bring him out of his room and around the house? Perhaps he should have Harry come down for a meal one night. It’d take some time, as Harry is still weak, but he thinks it might be a good idea. First and foremost, however, the boy needs to gain back his strength, and maybe a little trust in Louis.

 

 

It’s been a few weeks since Liam first went into Harry’s room. Since then, there’s been little to no conversations between them. Louis knows because he’s been keeping an ear towards that side of the house each time Liam goes in to give Harry food or to help him walk to the bathroom. He’s still not up to full strength, but Louis can tell he’s getting stronger. His heartbeat sounds steadier with each passing day. He knows Harry hasn’t had much to eat other than oatmeal and some fruit in the mornings, and chicken broth for lunch and dinner, but it’s something.

He’s getting there, but what Louis is more worried about now is Harry’s mental state. He can feel the distraught emotions hanging around the boy like a thick fog. Louis has the capability to change that. He can manipulate emotions, one of his talents from his vampiric age.

He can also sense how upset Liam is at seeing what his friend is going through. At dinner that night, Liam is staring blankly at his bowl of soup. Niall has barely left his side since they arrived back home around two months ago.

“Do you think he’ll be okay?” Liam asks softly, but it’s loud enough for the two vampires in the room to hear. 

It was a rough dinner exchange for Harry tonight. He had completely ignored Liam and, after thirty minutes, hadn’t even touched his food. Liam had pleaded with him to eat so he could get stronger and Harry had shot back with a sharp, “The stronger I get, the worse it’ll hurt the next time they _feed_. It’s better to be weak and numb so I can’t feel anything.”

Niall and Louis exchange glances across the table. They want protect Liam’s emotions, but they also realize he needs to know the truth.

“It’ll take awhile,” Louis starts off. “In the past, some humans have felt the way he does. Like they don’t have anything to live for and have a dark mood or attitude about everything. Harry’s been through a lot, more than we might ever know. But I think he can get through it. We’ll have to be patient with him and go at his pace.”

“I don’t think I’ve seen someone this torn up over vampires before. So resistant,” Niall adds. “Has he always been like that?”

Liam shakes his head. “No, in school, he was excited to become a feeder. We all were. He used to follow this girl around all the time. I think it was his sister. He used to bug her about the classes she took because he wanted to know more. But they left soon after I transferred.”

“Harry has a sister?” Louis asks, dropping his fork on his plate. 

Liam looks over to him and nods. “Yeah, an older one. Jenna maybe?” He shakes his head and sits back in his chair. “No, that’s not it.”

Louis pulls out his phone and sends a message to Zayn: _Harry has an older sister who went to the same academy Liam transferred to. The one in Manchester._

“You can’t remember her name?” Niall asks, his body now turned to face Liam.

Liam scrunches his face in concentration. “I can’t right now. It’s been so many years ago and my memories of Harry are kinda blurry. It’s like I can remember meeting him and then he just wasn’t there anymore. I could go ask him?” He looks from Niall to Louis, seeking permission.

Louis sighs dejectedly. “It might be best to leave him be tonight. But try to ask him tomorrow?”

Liam nods. “I can do that.”

Thankfully, the human gets actually starts eating his dinner with the determination of helping his long lost friend in the back of his mind.

 

Despite his vampiric abilities keeping him from having headaches, Louis rubs his temples. An old human habit that he still has after all these years. He’s looking over a stack of new reports when someone knocks at his door. More likely Perrie, a human therapist he’s worked with multiple times, with an update on Harry.

“Come in,” he calls and shuffles the reports to the side—he can get to those later.

“Evening, Louis,” Perrie steps in the room and leaves her bag by the door.

Louis smiles at the woman and braces himself. “So, what do you think?’

Perrie hesitates as if searching for her words as she settles down in the chair across from him. “He’s not the worst case I’ve seen but…”

Louis leans back in his chair. “But pretty close?”

Perrie nods and leans down to retrieve a notepad. “He has severely deep-rooted fear of your kind, more in likely due to the abuse he received with his last owner. You’ll need to be extremely patient with him on that. He doesn’t trust any of you. Barely trusted me for a while. He’ll only respond to humans, and even then, barely. 

“But he did? Seem to trust what you were telling him?”

Perrie grimaces. “Slightly. But I never told him more about my life, being a Feeder, working for you and whatnot. He’s not ready for that.”

“Did he talk at all about his last owner?”

“That’s where things get...sticky per say.”

“Sticky?” 

She flips to another page. “He can’t remember much from his stay. At all. Can’t tell me the name of his owner, what his room looked like, what type of care he received. Nothing. All he can say is that he was always cold, hungry, and weak, and that multiple vampires would feed from him.”

Louis takes a deep breath to calm himself. His anger towards Harry’s last owner flaring up once more. “Okay, he’s probably repressing his memories. That might come back to him-”

“But it might not.” Perrie interrupts. “We need to work as best we can to help get him to trust vampires. If you don’t mind, I can get some materials from one of the local academies to help him better understand our society.”

Louis nods in agreement. “That would be beneficial to him. It sounds like he needs to start over. I’ll dig a little more to see where he received his education. He was at the academy in Manchester for awhile, but Liam can’t remember him past age nine.”

“Maybe he moved to one of the lesser schools? There are still some people out there who don’t want to live with vampires. Maybe he was brought up by one of them?” Perrie suggests, but from the puzzled expression on her face, she doesn’t quite believe what she’s saying.

Louis feels the same. As if he’s grabbing at straw to try to make sense of why Harry was put into this situation to begin with.

Perrie shifts the conversation. “Has there been any luck in finding his family?”

“Unfortunately no. It’s almost as if he’s a ghost. There hasn’t been a trace of him anywhere. We’re taking his blood sample and running it through the database of Feeders. Hopefully, something will turn up soon, but it’s like Harry Styles doesn’t exist.” He makes a mental note to send a follow-up email to the hospital director running the search. He needs answers. Yesterday.

“What about his physical status?”

Perrie perks up at that. “Looking a lot better. His muscles are still weak, beginning to atrophy, but he did very well with the exercises I gave him. He seems determined to start moving again. That will help him tremendously. I’ll talk to chef Niall about Harry’s meals. We can’t push him too much too soon.”

“Good,” he says absentmindedly. “Good, I’m very thankful for you, Perrie”

Perrie rolls her eyes and goes to leave. “So you’ve told me a million times. See you tomorrow, Lou.”

Once she leaves, Louis gets back to the reports in front of him. One of the pains of being the ‘king of the vampires’. He scoffs at the title. He’ll keep the symbolic crown he received a few centuries ago though. If he knew being ‘king’ meant piles of paperwork, then he might have reconsidered the title.

In any case, he’s good at what he does. Really good. Being the eldest of seven kids gave him an advantage. From creating policies for his kind to regulating the feeder schools, he did it all. But that meant reports.

All of the ones today talk about multiple hospitals close to his area being broken into and records being destroyed. No casualties, human or vampire were accounted for which was a relief. 

“But what is it about these hospitals? Why them?” Louis mutters to himself. He’s quick to open another tab on his computer and pull up a map of the areas in question. Nothing is suspicious until he realizes how close the hospitals are to where Harry was found. And it’s then that he realizes what’s happening. He doesn’t get scared often, and certainly not for himself, but he feels something close to fear—fear for Harry.

He sends off another text to Zayn. _I think Harry’s owner is looking for him._ He attaches a snapshot of the map and the list of hospital break-ins. 

 

_Harry_

Harry is unsure and slightly uneasy. He’s unsure mainly about himself and his thoughts. He’s been here for a couple of months, and Louis still hasn’t tried to feed from him. He thought that the vampire would, especially since he was fed off of multiple times a week with his last owner. He expects it, waits every day for Louis to come in and take what he wants, but Louis hasn’t made that move. 

Yet.

Harry’s still waiting for the moment when Louis will trap him up against a wall, the bed, any surface really, and take and take and take. Harry’s anticipating it and it’s exhausting, but he’s trying his best not to get too comfortable here. He’s heard of some Feeders being killed if they are unwillingly. Maybe that will happen to him and he can finally be free from this life.

But there’s one thing that’s been bothering from the moment he saw Louis. Underneath all the fear he has towards vampires, there’s…something about Louis. He doesn’t know what is it ,but he’s aware that he’s letting his guard down whenever the vampire is around him.

And it’s almost as terrifying as the fear of Louis feeding from him.

Harry is also unsure about Perrie. On one hand, she’s the first person in a long time that hasn’t totally treated him like a fragile being. He knows he is, the way his arms shake whenever he sits up is evidence enough, but Perrie is helping. She doesn’t mention the vampires, not often, at least, and she gives him small exercises he can do to get stronger.

But Louis must have brought her in. He noticed that she avoided talking about herself. But he knows she’s not a vampire. She didn’t have the same predatory look in her eyes that always vampires do. 

Still, he thinks he can trust her for now. It’s been a few weeks of Perrie coming over in the afternoons and staying until dinner time. Talking about him, always trying to see what he can remember about his last owner, and working with him to get stronger.

Now he can make it to the ensuite by himself. He doesn’t feel as unsteady on his feet as he did in the beginning. He likes his room. It’s spacious, with high ceilings and modern touches. He always keeps the lights low, letting the sunshine fill the room with its warm light.

He loves feeling the warmth. He never had the chance for the many years with his last owner. It’s why he always keeps a blanket with him. He refuses to let himself become that cold again. 

He’s fallen in love with the view from the bay window off to the left of his bed. He must be on some sort of estate. The land from outside his window is vast, with trees and valleys and a small pond way out in the distance. It’s fall; the leaves starting to change colors, leaving his view multicolored with vibrant oranges, muted yellows, and deep reds. 

But what he loves the most is the night sky. There are stars everywhere. He’ll spend some nights simply staring at the stars wishing he was them. Wishing he were far away from his life here on earth. 

He can eat more solid foods. Chicken broth and crackers turned into actual chicken breasts and veggies. He’s still eating in his room, actively avoiding anyone else in the household.

The past few nights, Perrie has asked if he was going to go down to dinner. He always shakes his head no. Tonight’s no different.

“Want me to help you to the dining room?”

Harry shakes his head and walks back to his bed from where he and Perrie were working across the room. “Not tonight.”

Perrie comes back over to his side, lifting his sheets, and helping him up. “You can’t avoid them forever, love.” When Harry avoids eye contact, she continues. “And you can’t stay up here forever.”

Harry stays silent, refusing to answer. He knows one day he’ll be forced to venture outside of his room. One day his new owner will come in and demand he fulfills his job, to be a feeder. He’s surprised he hasn’t already. His last owner would feed often, and it’s already been several months since he’s felt the sharp pain at his neck coupled with the overwhelming sense of panic and helplessness. He won’t do that again.

“No… I’m not going.”

Perrie studies him for a moment, her soft blue colored eyes searching for a compromise. “How about I stay over for dinner tomorrow night? Will that be better for you? If I were there?”

Harry shakes his head. “Liam will bring my dinner up here in a moment.”

“You need to go, H.” Perrie lays a hand on his forearm. “It’ll help you adjust to being here.”

“I don’t want to be here. I’ve never wanted to be here.”

“It’s for your own protection from…”

“Protection?!” He shakes off Perrie’s hand in frustration. “How is being trapped in a cage waiting to be drained by a sadistic vampire any type of _protection_?”

“Harry,” Perrie says slowly. “Why do you think you’re here?”

Harry goes to answer, but is stumped. It’s been almost three months since he woke up in the hospital. In that time, Louis has barely been in the room. Liam is the one who gives him his meals, staying for a few minutes to talk about random things. Perrie only started coming a month ago. He’s never ventured out of his room, lucky that there’s a bathroom attached, there’s a beautiful view outside his window, and that Liam doesn’t mind taking his clothes to be washed.

But he’s never been fed from in that time. He always expected it to happen. For him to be taken off guard and pushed back to that place of weakness.

“Louis’ my new owner. I’m his feeder until he finally decides I’m too much of a hassle and drains me,” he finally says.

Perrie shakes her head, her lips turning downwards. “No, you’re not- did…did no one tell you?”

Harry’s over this. He just wants to be left alone again. Needs to be by himself. Needs to go back to his bay window and look out over the valley of trees and see the sunset and the stars appear.

“Please leave, Perrie.”

“Harry-”

“No!” He shouts turning on her. “I know what I am. I know how meaningless my life is compared to his! Leave.”

Perrie stares at him for a moment, a shocked expression on her face. She nods and slips off the bed. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“I’d rather you not.” Harry mutters, leaning back against his pillows.

Perrie hesitates by the door, not wanting to leave Harry when he’s this upset. How has no one told him yet? But she does as he asks and leaves.

As soon as she does, Harry breaks down again, clenching his blanket in his hands. He’s so tired of feeling helpless like this. Of being on a constant tease. Of waiting for the other shoe to drop. Yes, he’s been well fed, been kept in a spacious room with a warm bed, but… there has to be a catch. There’s always been a catch. 

With his old owner, he would get a threadbare blanket, but then he’d be fed from by multiple vampires at once. A warm meal would be the only one he would have for a week. 

His mind races with questions. What did Perrie mean by ‘protection’? Protection from who? He can’t be anything but a feeder. He’s Louis’ feeder. He will always be a feeder. Will always be at the mercy of vampires. 

Suddenly, he feels exhausted. He’s done. His breathing picks up and tears fall. Why can’t Louis stop with the mind games and finally drain him? That has to be what he’s planning to do. Send in humans to lure Harry into a sense of comfort before finally killing him.

Harry can barely see what’s in front of him as his body is wracked with sobs. He’s so tired. He wants it all to be over.

A knock comes to the door before it’s opened with Liam coming in with his dinner. He’s quick to set the plate down when he sees Harry sitting in his bed hysterically crying.

“Harry? What’s wrong?” Liam comes to his side, rubbing his back with concern on his face. 

Harry shoves him away, trying not to feel bad when he sees hurt flash across Liam’s face. “Like you don’t know.”

Liam sits there bewildered, his mouth open in shock.

“Why don’t you tell Louis to stop his fucking mind games?” He spits at the feeder. “I’m done. Tell him to kill me. Isn’t that he wants? For me to lose my fucking mind.” He grabs the nearest object to him, which happens to be his glass of water from lunch, and slings it across the room, seeing it shatter in a spray of glass and water. “For me to beg for death? Well, here I am! Tell your owner that I’m ready. I’ve lost my mind. He can drain me now.”

He can barely catch his breath now. Fully succumb to his rant, he’s not even sure if he’s making any sense now as he tries to get up and flings anything in his reach. He’s done. He wants this to be over. 

Suddenly, there are arms wrapped around his chest and he fights against them. The body behind him is sturdy and easily stills him despite his physical protest. Hands cup his face and he’s flooded with peace. Any sort of rage and desperation leaves his body and he sags against the person behind him. 

“There we go, darling,” a voice in front of him says calmly as he shushes him. “There we go.” 

Harry’s still breathing sharply and his body still shakes from his outburst. Thumbs gently brush against his cheeks as his breathing starts to slow. 

"You're alright, Harry,” the voice continues. “I’ll take him now, Niall.” 

“You sure, Lou?”

“Yeah, I got him.”

He feels himself being passed over to the man in front of him and being led out of the room and down the hall. He almost feels drugged as he’s guided into what looks like a library slash office. The walls are painted a soft grey and a leather couch and chairs are set up on one side of the room facing a small television. The couch is where Louis leads him now.

He feels too hazy for him to properly panicked that Louis must of heard his outburst and is getting ready to act upon his wishes. Why wouldn’t the vampire simply kill him in his own room? Wouldn’t he not want to get blood on what’s a very comfortable leather couch? Or is this another mind game to push Harry further into madness?

Once Louis is sat beside of him, he feels the haziness slightly lighten. “I’m going to take away my influence,” he says, “but you have to remain calm while I explain. I’d rather you have a clear head while I do so.”

Harry doesn’t move and only stares back at his owner, but his mind starts to clear little by little. “What did you want to explain? That you’re going to kill me? I already know that.”

Louis leans back against the pillows, looking like the image of calmness. “I’m not going to kill you, Harry. And I’m not your owner.”

Any comebacks Harry might of had, any proclamations of surrender escape him. “H-how is that possible?”

“I’m not your owner, Harry. You don’t have an owner,” Louis says casually, as if it wasn’t completely throwing everything Harry previously thought out the window. He entertains the thought for a moment. The idea that he doesn’t have an owner. The idea that he’s not a feeder, but it’s not possible.

He voices as much. “I heard the doctor, I’m an AB neg. I have to be a feeder.”

“What do you remember from your time at the academy?” 

“I never went one. I think I was suppose to, but I was sold straight away.”

“Sold to who? Do you remember his name?”

Harry shakes his head. “No, I-” He stops himself. Why does Louis care? What does it matter? “Why do you need to know?”

If Louis seems taken aback by his answer, the vampire doesn’t show it. He only keeps his expression steady and gives Harry his full attention. “Do you not remember his name?”

“No,” Harry says sharply, getting frustrated from the constant mind games going on. “I don’t.”

“Okay, that’s alright,” Louis says gently nodding his head. He looks behind him at the side table and leans over to retrieve some sort of tablet. 

Harry watches as he does so, confused as to what Louis is doing and what all of this means. His head is in a whirlwind and he’s not sure when it’ll stop.

The vampire sits upright again, mutters something under his breath, and holds out the device. Pictures of children in a school room on the screen. It’s obvious the kids are beginning feeders as Harry recognizes the textbooks on their desks. Louis swipes his finger across the screen to show older kids still in school, another swipe shows a ceremony of feeders around his age. 

The next picture shocks him. 

It’s of a household, a vampire with a feeder. The vampire is gazing lovingly at the feeder, keeping her close. The feeder laughs into the camera seemingly comfortable with the vampire. Another picture shows the couple out at a restaurant, a candle lit on the table and the couple holding hands. Another of the two cuddling on a couch, the vampire’s face buried in the feeder’s neck—not feeding but just resting. 

“Why are you showing me this?” Harry whispers.

“I thought showing pictures of Perrie’s upbringing might help you realize that feeders are not treated how you believe,” Louis explains softly. “Perrie didn’t think it was a good idea, thought it might send you over the edge and make you not trust her but, I don’t think you ever trusted her.”

Harry hesitantly looks up from the pictures to the vampire, slightly embarrassed that his views were so obvious. 

Louis chuckles as Harry’s reaction. “You’re emotions are quite obvious to me. My abilities help me with it too.”

“Abilities?” 

Louis cocks his head and studies him. “Are you sure you’ve never been to an academy?”

Harry shakes his head again and goes back to looking at the picture of Perrie and a female vampire cuddling on a couch. Perrie looks genuinely happy and it throws him off. Not for the first time tonight, his mind is racing with how in the world this is possible. How vampires and humans can live together so harmoniously.

“I can easily call her back to talk to you,” Louis offers.

“Tell me about your abilities,” Harry says instead too focused on how Louis was able to calm him down and read him so easily. He wanted answers.

“Alright,” he nods. “But after dinner.” He gets up and offers a hand to Harry. “You’ve holed yourself up in your room for too long, pet. I know that you’ve had a difficult time in the past, but you are safe here. No one in the house will hurt you.” When Harry doesn’t comment he reaches up and runs his fingers through Harry’s hair for just a moment. “I promise you, no one will hurt you. You are safe.” 

To Harry’s surprise, he actually leans into the touch and closes his eyes. He has no idea why he did. Something in him is screaming at him to trust the vampire in front of him. To believe everything he has said. Another part, a smaller voice in the back of his mind, is telling him to run.

“Okay,” he says surprising himself again.

As they walk down the stairs, Louis keeps his hand on the small of his back which grounds him. He takes in the setting around him. The hallway, line with various photos and paintings, leads towards a set of stone stairs, cascading downward in a spiral. Louis goes slow, knowing Harry’s energy level to be low as he hasn’t done much walking in the past three months. 

Slender windows that follow them down shows parts from the front of the house. He spies stone walls and a courtyard directly outside. Gargoyles at the top of the house only slightly creep him out. Louis chuckles as he realizes what Harry is starting at.

“Don’t know why I let the architect put those bloody things in.” 

Harry doesn’t say anything, continuing down the stairs in silence. Once they reach the bottom, Harry is shocked by how vast the floor plan is. To his right is a set of large wooden double doors to what he suspects are the front doors. To his left, the foyer opens up to show where the dining room is directly in front of him, a room that simply has more couches and a desk, and more doors leading to another balcony.

He gapes in awe of the magnitude of the home, more like a mansion now that he thinks about it, and wonders what Louis does to have all of this. 

Louis leads them across the foyer and into the dining room. A large wooden table is already set for four people to dine. The smell of meat and vegetables hits Harry, and his stomach starts to grumble. Liam is sitting down at the table, watching another vampire flit around the kitchen, settled to the left of the room, setting down pots and plates on the table. Harry spies a roasted chicken and his mouth starts to water. 

As he sits down across from Liam, he realizes just how much food is on the table. Liam must be able to tell what Harry is thinking because he starts to chuckle.

“Niall likes to cook a lot,” Liam explains as he reaches forward and starts to spoon out green peas on his plate. 

“I’ve never heard you complain about that before,” the vampire, Niall, jokes and sets down a basket of rolls before sitting down himself. “I own about five restaurants, it’s sort of a habit by now to cook a feast for every meal.”

Then it hits him, Niall must have been the one who’s been cooking his meals ever since he’s arrived. Harry looks over at the vampire sitting next to Liam and bites his lip. Louis, who must of picked up on Harry’s realization, chuckles under his breath.

Niall looks over at Louis, obviously having heard the man laugh due to his heightened senses, and gives him an odd look. “What’re you on about?” 

“Oh nothing, Niall,” Louis teases and nudges Harry with his elbow. “Go on, pet.” 

It’s not like Harry needs permission, per say, to go ahead a get his food, but… it reassures him for some reason. He realizes, slightly ashamed, that not an hour ago, he was throwing a fit, properly freaking out, and now he’s sitting down having a meal.

He piles his plate, not with too much food because he still doesn’t eat too much, but with enough. The chicken, although it looks unseasoned, is actually delicious. Although any type of food tastes good to him at this point.

“Thank you, Niall,” Harry mutters. He keeps his face down towards his plate, but he doesn’t miss Niall and Liam exchanging pleased smiles. 

He’s surprised to see the two vampires putting food on their plates. He never knew they could have things other than blood. Liam shoots him a reassuring smile from across the table.

Harry stays quiet throughout dinner, deciding to listen into the conversations the others have. They talk about football games, Niall and Louis arguing over which team is the best and the value of certain players. Liam gets this excited look in his eyes when they talk about a recent game.

Although Harry is in the middle of the group, he feels out of place. A part of him longs to be able to contribute to the conversation, to understand exactly what they’re saying, to feel like he belongs somewhere.

“-remember that, Harry?” Liam asks, bringing Harry out of his thoughts.

Harry glances up to see everyone else looking at him. “Um, sorry, remember what?”

Liam smiles softly at him. “You use to bring your football to the academy all the time, wanting to use it during recess.”

Harry becomes tense, his shoulders starting to hunch ever the slightest. “I, erm, I don’t remember that actually. I don’t remember much from…before."

There’s a moment of weird silence before Louis speaks up, “But maybe your memories will come back. Even if they don’t, you can always make more.” Louis nods encouraging towards him and something swirls in his chest but he’s quick to stamp it down.

He finishes his dinner quicker than the others since he didn’t have as much on his plate. He sits there quietly, unsure of what he’s allowed to do now. Should put his plate in the kitchen? Does he need to wash up? Does he need to wait until Louis dismisses him? Louis said he wasn’t owned by anyone, but what did that really mean?

Louis as if sensing his panic, which as he reminded himself he can, gestures towards the foyer with his fork. “You can go explore the house if you’d like. We’ll handle the washing up.”

Taking that as a dismissal, Harry nods and gets up, leaving his dirty plate on the table. There’s a slight pain in his chest when he hears the conversation spark up once he leaves the dining room. He stares around the foyer, not wanting to go back upstairs, and heads towards where the back porch is.

He goes through the room that has more couches and stands by the floor to ceiling French doors. He spies a few lounge chairs and opens the door. The air is cool, causing him to shiver slightly, and he can hear insects chirping. He realizes he must be underneath his room because he’s seeing the exact same view here as he does upstairs.

He sits in silence, doing what he always does in his room, and stares at the stars, mentally tracing the different shapes in them.

It’s not long before he hears the door open, he glances back and sees Louis step on the porch, a blanket draped over his arm.

“Thought you might be cold,” Louis says handing the blanket over.

Harry murmurs, “Thank you." 

Louis settles in the chair beside him. “So,” he starts, “You wanted to know about my abilities.”

Harry shifts slightly to face him, bracing himself for this new information. What else did he not know?

“The first thing you should know is that I never use my ability unless someone absolutely needs it and not every vampire will have an ability,” Louis begins speaking slowly so Harry can grasp everything. “From my…experience abilities can range from emotional manipulation like mine to dream walking. The older the vampire the better they have their ability under control. Right now, I can tell you’re feeling uncomfortable but curious. Most the time, you feel depressed but I can change that as easy as a twitch of my finger.” 

When Harry flinches Louis rushes to say, “But I won’t. Not unless something like what happened tonight happens again.”

“What about compulsion?” Harry asks wanting to get the conversation over with so he could go back to the comfort of his room.

“Every vampire has that, but the older the vampire, the stronger the hold is. Some humans can even fight off compulsion from younger vampires.” 

Harry nods taking in the information. He knew about compulsion, having always been afraid of it being used against him. Has it been used on him? Is it currently being used on him? Is he imagining all of this is happening? That’s he’s been treated well but in actuality he’s back in another cage?

“What’s wrong, pet?” Louis asks gently. “Your heartbeat is going crazy.”

Harry looks down and notices his hands are shaking and not because of the cold breeze rustling through the trees. “How do you know if… if compulsion is being used on you?”

“Well,” Louis shift in his seat. “Most humans say they’ve felt fuzzy, as if they’re dreaming, others are completely unaware of being used on them. It depends on what the vampire is wanting them to do.”

Harry pulls the blanket higher on his body, sinking down in the chair and bringing his knees to his chest. 

Sensing his discomfort Louis continues. “No one here has used compulsion on you. I know you might not believe me right now, but I promise you, no one has.”

Harry wants to believe Louis, wants to be able to trust him, but there’s still a part of him that is yelling at him to get as far away from vampires, especially this vampire, as soon as possible. He feels Louis’ gaze on him but he doesn’t dare look his way. Instead, he keeps his eyes on the blanket, tracing the geometric pattern with his fingertip. He wonders what he should do now. Trust the vampire next to him or his own memories?

  

_Louis_

It doesn’t take Zayn long to show up, briefcases in one hand and a thermos in the other. 

“You know we do have coffee here,” Louis says, not looking up from his computer as he checks his emails. It’s early in the morning, a few weeks after he talked to Harry out on the back porch. In that time, Harry’s been having some of his meals with him, Niall, and Liam. He’s always quiet, slumping in his seat, and trying not to draw too much attention to himself. 

It’s endearing to Louis if he’s completely honest, but he tries to stamp down the feelings. He can’t get attached to this human.

“Yes, but I’ve mixed it with a bit of blood.” Zayn sits at the desk and takes a swig of his drink. “Besides, you’ve converted Niall to a tea drinker so your coffee beans are probably stale by now.”

“Coffee doesn’t go stale… does it?”

Zayn rolls his eyes. “You think Harry’s owner and these break-ins are connected?”

“It makes sense. Why would there be multiple break-ins around the time Harry was rescued. Did you visit any of them?”

“I did and found something that might be worth your attention,” Zayn says and places a file on the desk. He opens it and pulls out a few security camera pictures. “These were taken a week after Harry left.”

It’s a view of a hallway leading to the room of records. A few nurses and doctors are shown frozen in mid-step but the most interesting is a figure opening the door to the records dressed in black.

“None of the staff could remember this man. Not even after I showed them the pictures.”

Louis sits back in his chair, stumped. “Well, that’s not good. He must of used compulsion to keep them from seeing him.” He rubs the scruff around his jaw. “Maybe could even pull a glamour.”

“A glamour? Really? Wouldn’t it show on film?”

“Not necessarily, glamours are all about pulling a trick on the mind but it doesn’t rule anything else out. One of the staff could be in on it.  We’ll need to run background checks on them. Did this happen at the other hospitals too?”

Zayn nods and pulls out similar surveillance pictures. “Every one that was hit.”

“Were any files taken?”

Zayn sighs and takes a swig of his coffee. “That’s going to take some time finding out. All the rooms were completely trashed. Papers scattered, bugs in the computers, water damage, the whole works. Whoever this guy is,” he gestures to the picture, “he knows what he’s doing.”

 

_Harry_

_“Did you really think you could escape?” A scratchy voice calls out in the dark, the moonlight just barely allowing Harry to see the shape of the vampire stepping into his cell. “Haven’t you learned yet, boy? You’ll never escape.”_

_Harry whimpers and crawl backwards to the corner of the cell. The man chuckles at his useless actions. He grabs Harry by the ankle and yanks him forward. Harry’s head hits the concrete floor causing a whimper to escape his lips. He’s only been here for a few days but he already knows that he should keep his mouth shut. Don’t complain because they’ll feed any way._

_He feels the hot damp breath on his neck and braces himself for the pain. “Stop it!” A shrill voice yells, stopping the man from biting down._

_The vampire turns and faces the young girl in the cell across from Harry. “Oh, you’re going to regret that.”_

_In a blink of an eye, the vampire is in the girl’s cell, the girl screams out in pain as the vampire feeds until she’s silent._

Harry jerks awake with his heart beating rapidly against a sweat soaked shirt. He shakily gets out of bed and heads to the ensuite. He flicks on the light, wincing as the brightness burns his eyes, and stares at his reflection.

He’s still not use to seeing himself. His curly hair is a tangled mess. His cheeks are slightly sunken in from years of little to no food but over the past month, he’s starting to see a difference. His body is still thin and lanky, but he’s feeling stronger each day. 

His eyes look haunting. They stare back at him blank, empty, and tired. The green of his eyes look pale in this light. He vaguely remembers them being a deep emerald green, but that was a lifetime ago. He care barely remember his family. He knows he has a mother, a father, and a sister out there somewhere. But they could be dead for all he knows. Killed by the very vampire that took him.

He tries not to think of that day though. Instead, as he goes to the closet to pull out a washcloth, he thinks about what he should do now. His last owner is still out there and he knows he won’t be completely safe unless he’s dead. But that may never happen.

He washes his face, something he’s done the past few times he’s been woken up from nightmares before, and heads back to bed. He tries to go back to sleep but he can’t. Switching from one side to the next doesn’t help either.

He lays on his back and stares up at the ceiling. The lamp beside his bed stays on, as he’s come to hate the dark. Its light casts shadows on the ceiling and he traces the shapes of them with his eyes. He follows one all the way down to the door and he stares at it. The heavy wooden door stays closed most days until Louis or Liam comes in to fetch him for dinner.

He’s still unsure, still feels uneasy around the two vampires and even around Liam sometimes, but he’s growing to appreciate them. They don’t bother him with too many questions during meals, but he doesn’t feel like he’s being ignored. From some of those conversations he’s learned that Liam has been Niall’s feeder for several years and they often go on trips around the world. They were just in Niall’s home country Ireland and were talking about where they were going to go next.

Even now, laying in bed, Harry still feels a pain in his chest at the thought of what all he has missed due to being with his last owner. Of what all the different opportunities and experiences he’s missed. He sighs and looks back over at the door to his room.

Harry tries to be quiet as he walks down the stairs and to the kitchen. He has a vague memory his mum having a cuppa with milk and honey late at night. Maybe that would help.

When he gets to the doorway, he freezes in his tracks. Liam is leaning against the marble island with Niall’s face buried in his neck. Liam has his head leaned back and is clutching Niall closer to him with a hand to his neck.

Harry tenses, feeling suddenly sick, but he’s unable to look away while Niall feeds. It’s only for a few seconds, five at the most, but it’s enough for Harry to stumble away from the doorway crashing against a chair from the dining room. He vaguely hears his name being called, he’s not sure by whom, but the tone is panicked and concerned. Harry ignores it in favor of collapsing on a plush armchair that’s nearby because his legs can’t take him up the stairs and back in the safety of his room.

Someone kneels down in front of him and takes his hands in their own. There’s pressure on his hands, fingers being raked through his hair which anchors him. He’s aware of his breathing. Overly so. It’s coming in and out quickly and he can feel his heart beating in his chest like a drum.

Suddenly, he feels calmness wash over him like a cool wave. His breathing slows down and he stops trembling. There’s still a hand covering both of his and one in his hair. But…he feels okay. Which is odd to him because just a few seconds ago he felt anything but okay.

“There we go, pet,” Louis murmurs in front of him. “You’re alright, no one’s going to hurt you. Are you back with me?”

Harry looks up at the vampire, whose mouth is set in a firm line, and nods his head.

“Good.” He continues brushing his hand through Harry’s hair, slowly and being mindful of tangles. Louis brings his hand down to cup Harry’s cheek. “How ‘bout we go back upstairs and get you in bed? Yeah?”

Harry nods, feeling slightly shameful of needing Louis to comfort him yet again. As they head down the hallway, he’s hit with another memory.

_“Have at him,”_ He _says and Harry tenses as he sees three figures step towards him, hungry in their eyes and their fangs out. He holds back a whimper as hands hold him down and he feels the prick of their bites. One at his neck, one on his arm, and another on his thigh._

_It doesn’t take long for him to pass out._

He tries to shut his eyes against the memory but it’s like he can still feel the hands holding onto him and feel himself become weak from blood loss.

“What’s going through your mind?” Louis asks, picking up on Harry’s distress.

“Erm,” Harry starts off slightly breathless. “F-feedings.”

“With your last owner?”

He nods, rubbing his hands over his body. “Among others.”

“Other owners?”

Harry shakes his head as they reach the staircase. “No, he…he had others come in, too.”

Louis gives him a bewildered look. “Others? He let others feed off of you?”

“Sometimes at once, too.”

Harry sees Louis nostrils flare and his jaw tense at the information for just a moment before he schools his features. “I can assure you, that is not suppose to happen and will never happen to you again.”

  

_Louis_

Louis is livid. After he left Harry in his room, he goes to the kitchen to find Niall and Liam fixing a midnight snack. 

Niall immediately notices his frustration. “What’s up?”

“Harry saw you feeding on Liam and just about had a breakdown.”

Liam pales and Louis can feel the guilt coming off him and Niall. 

“Shit, I didn’t even think about it,” Niall says, wiping a hand over his face.

“It’s..alright for now I suppose,” Louis says trying to calm himself down. “We just have to be aware of where he is when we do decide to feed. He hasn’t had the best experience with that.”

“Like what?” Niall asks, noticing Louis’ tense posture. 

“Like his owner letting multiple vamps feed at once until he fucking passed out.”

Liam’s guilt spikes to deep sympathy for his friend. “I saw him one time check for new bite marks. I figured his owner just fed in multiple places not…not multiple people.”

Louis clenches his jaw as he realizes that’s exactly what Harry was just doing moments ago. He stalks past the two and heads to the staircase flying down the stairs and to the basement. A quick walk down a stone wall corridor leads him to the shooting range. He runs his fingers over the case of various weapons that have come into his possession over the years. Knives, guns, bows and arrows, and swords all ready for him to use.

He doesn’t have to come down here to get his frustrations out too often but the idea of Harry helpless and broken angers him like nothing else has in a long time. He’s not even sure why he’s feeling so effected by it. 

He and Zayn have been working for years, decades even, trying to find any feeder in a bad home and make sure the situation is rectified. He’s seen feeders in conditions worse than Harry’s. He’s seen them physically broken, abused, and hopeless. And while his heart has gone out to them and he’s helped them, he’s never let it get to him. If he let every broken human or vampire he’s come across in his lifetime, get under his skin, he would perpetually be broken. 

He selects a handgun, for now, and ammo. He heads over to the long hall where targets are waiting to be used. He takes a deep breath, raises his arm, and shoots. The bullet hits the dummy square in the chest. A perfect kill. He fires until the clip is emptied and he quickly reloads and continues, keeping his movements continuous. 

Each time he fires, he pictures Harry’s owner. He doesn’t know what he looks like since the vampire is annoying good at avoiding cameras, but Louis visualizes a smug face and goes with it. When he hits his target, the anger in him diminishes slowly. 

He gets bored with the hand gun and switches it out for a bow and arrow. He hits paper targets and the thump each arrow makes when he hits the targets is like music to his ears. Each hit is another kill, another faceless person down who has hurt Harry.

_Thump._ Harry being fed until he’s weak.

_Thump._ Harry lying in the hospital bed pale and skin and bones.

_Thump._ Harry full out sobbing in his room and begging for death.

Harry. Harry. Harry.

“Louis,” a voice calls out and he’s so in his head that he swivels to face the intruder with the arrow cocked in the quiver. 

When he realizes it’s Niall, looking only slightly terrified with his hands raised in mock surrender, he lowers his weapon.

“You alright?” The Irishman asks glancing to the targets at the end of the room which are almost shredded with all the damage Louis’ done to them.

Louis is a little breathless and sweaty but he levels his breathing to answer. “Perfect, never been better.”

Niall doesn’t believe him if his emotions are anything to go by. Plus the decades together could also help Niall easily read Louis.  “Yeah, sure,” he says and takes the bow away from Louis.  

“What did you want, Niall?”

Niall leans up against the weapons case and crosses his arms. “Just wanted to see how you were. You’re good at figuring out how everyone else is, wanted to do the same with you. Obviously, I can’t see exactly how you’re feeling but you get the idea.”

Louis huffs and runs his fingers through his hair. “I have no idea why I’m so bent out of shape about Harry’s last owner.” He avoids eye contact by going down to the targets and cleaning his mess. “It’s not like I haven’t seen worse, it’s just.” He pauses for a moment, replacing the dummies with new ones. “It hurts me to think that Harry’s ever been hurt. That he hasn’t had anyone, any vampire, show him what it’s like to be a feeder, a real feeder, not the fucked up image he has in his head. He deserves so much better than what he’s gotten.”

“You’ve barely talked to him. He’s barely talked to us.”

“I know!” Louis says frustratedly. “I don’t get it.”

“Well,” Niall starts off. “There’s one theory.”

Louis snaps his head up to look at the younger vampire. “No, that’s not it.”

“How do you know what I’m talking about?”

“I know you and it’s not it.”

“You’ve never experienced it.”

“Neither have you, unless you and Shawn are suddenly experts in how to hide your feelings which we all know is not possible even if I didn’t have my abilities.”

Niall scoffs and saunters over to Louis. “You never know.”

“No, I do know and you know that I know. It’s not possible.”

Niall shrugs not convinced at his friend’s words. “Whatever you say, mate.”

 

Harry goes back into his shell the few days after he saw Niall feeding on Liam. He still meets with Perrie several times a week and still goes down for some meals, but he draws in on himself more than he did during his first meal in the dining room. 

Liam tries to draw Harry into the conversation, and feels the sting of rejection when Harry doesn’t comply. Louis is thankful that he’s learned to tune out all the emotions, particularly the more intense emotions.

Harry had decided to eat his dinner in his room tonight, and Louis was more than happy to comply. He knows the sight of Niall feeding has pushed Harry back to how he was when he first arrived. Even Perrie had noticed a difference in the human.

Niall, ever the knowledgable chef, is arguing with Liam over cilantro while they finish their meal—of all arguments to have. Louis rolls his eyes at the two and tucks back into the roasted chicken.

“I’m just saying that fresh cilantro would make this dish even better! I can’t believe you haven’t thought about it!” Liam exclaims, waving the offending leaf around Niall’s face.

“Cilantro tastes like grassy soap and deserves to stay in the ground,” Niall firmly states and shoves Liam’s hand away. “Where did you even get that? I’ve never bought fresh cilantro before.”

“I went to the fresh market. That day you and Shawn hung out,” Liam says proudly.

The doorbell rings then, a rolling deep sound and Louis sighs as he gets up from the table. “Who the bloody hell is this?” But secretly happy that he can get away from this conversation.

It’s Zayn. A very distraught Zayn if his emotions are anything to go by, which for Louis, they are.

“What’s wrong?” Louis immediately asks, seeing no time for pleasantries. 

Zayn barges in, lingering the foyer. “Harry’s last owner slipped the tail we had on him and none of his aliases are in use.”

“You don’t know where he is?”

Zayn runs a hand through his hair, breaking the look of perfection he always has. “I was hoping Harry could help us.” When Louis goes to protest, he continues. “Maybe he knows something. Something he repressed.”

“I… don’t know. I haven’t been able to talk to him about it. Not even Perrie has.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah. Shit.”

They stand there in silence for a few seconds. “You haven’t been able to find a hint of him?” Louis asks.

“Not even a whisper. It’s like he’s vanished into thin air. It’s the most frustrating case I’ve had. Someone must be hiding him.”

Suddenly, Louis hears a crash followed by what sounds like a sob coming from Harry’s room. He’s up there in a flash. Harry’s lying on the floor close to the bay window, sheets tangled around his legs. 

“Darling,” Louis says and slowly walks over to him. “What happened?”

 Harry’s face is streaked with tears. “Please leave,” he whispers, his voice heavy and rough.

Louis’ heart breaks, which seems to be a common occurrence when it comes to this boy. “I need to help you up,” he says, walking until his toes brush over the blankets on the floor. “Will you let me?” 

Harry glares at the offered hand and tentatively takes it. Harry’s hand is cold, probably due to poor circulation he still seems to have, but Louis grasps it all the same and gently pulls Harry to his feet, hovering his other hand over Harry’s side in case the boy were to stumble.

“Let’s get you back in bed,” Louis whispers and goes to lead Harry over to the mattress when the boy shakes his head.

“Window.”

Louis looks over to said window where the curtains are drawn and back to the boy next to him. “Alright,” he says softly as it’s clear from the way Harry is avoiding even looking at Louis that the boy is still very afraid. He wishes he could take all the pain away. Well… he could. He’s done it before, but that was in a dire situation where Harry could of hurt himself. To manipulate Harry’s emotions when he’s terrified. To do what he can to make this broken human feel safe and comfortable in his household. Louis refuses to do anything against the boys wishes—against anyone’s wishes. Not until they have a long conversation about boundaries and he knows he has to take baby steps with Harry.

He helps Harry over to the window seat and then rushes back to gather the blankets on the floor to put over the boy. It’s nearing winter and sitting by the window will make even Louis chilled. 

Once Harry is properly wrapped up and the curtains are open, Louis asks, “May I sit with you?”

He can feel Harry’s confusion and his pinched brows only solidifies it. Harry nods and Louis smiles softly at him. Always always soft and gentle. Harry is much like a baby deer. Easily spooked and just as adorable.

Louis looks out the window. Harry’s room faces the back side of the estate. Louis was pretty lucky that he was able to build a home on enough land that he could call it an estate. Over 2000 acres of private property. More than enough to keep himself isolated from society if he pleases--which he usually does. 

He has his reasons.

Although the sun has already set, the moon is high in the sky, Louis can easily see the outline of the trees in the distance.The stars in the sky are bright pinpoints due to his vampiric senses. He glances over at Harry out of the corner of his eye. 

The boy looks content. His head is leaning against the wooden frame of the window, his eyes darting every which way, taking in the scene laid out before him, his body posture relaxed--though it could be due to how Louis practically cocooned him in the blankets.

This will be one of the times Louis is thankful for his sharpened memory. If prompted, he could retell every part of his life. Though some parts are hidden away or buried under other memories, they’re in his brain. Vampire perk he supposes. And this is a memory he will want to keep. The sight of Harry finally relaxed in his presence brings a smile to Louis’ lips. He could sit forever and watch the boy.

It’s when he’s beginning to notice the veins in Harry’s neck more that he realizes how hungry he is. It won’t bother him, the hunger. In the past he’s gone months without feeding. It wasn’t a pleasant experience but it was doable. 

But there’s something else behind the hungry that he can’t quite put his finger on that draws his eyes towards Harry’s pink lips and makes him want to pull Harry close and— no. He pushes that thought away.

He rises slowly and clears his throat. “Would you like a cuppa?”

Harry looks up at him as if he forgot Louis was in the room. He nods and whispers, “Please.”

 

_Harry_

Harry’s never seen so much land before. He’s looked out this window for months and is still shocked by the enormity of the place.

It doesn’t take Louis long to get back, much to Harry’s disappointment. While he’s still unsure about the vampire, a tiny part of him is beginning to whisper _it’s okay, you can trust him_. Or he’s losing his mind. Either way, he’s confused.

Louis comes back with a tray and hands a teacup to him. “I wasn’t sure how you take yours so I brought cream and sugar if you like.” He sets the tray on the cushion in between them.

“Thank you,” Harry says quietly. He knows the vampire can hear him. He reaches forward to pull a sugar cube out of the dish when he’s struck with a sharp pain in his head. He winces and leans back, holding his hand to left temple. 

“What’s wrong?” Louis asks worriedly. 

“‘S my head,” Harry answers, the pain coming in as waves now, rushing over to the right side of his head until his entire head is engulfed.

Harry hurriedly puts his teacup down, sloshing the liquid inside, and cups both hands over his head as he leans forward. He whimpers when the pain intensifies. He has no idea why this is happening. No idea what caused it to happen. All he knows is that he wants it to stop.

Warm hands cover his own and Louis’ voice hovers just by his ear. “I’m going to help you darling, alright? Take a deep breath for me.” 

Then a wave of warmth washes over his head, taking the pain with it. Harry whimpers when the pain give one last fight until the warmth covers his entire body. He’s slumped over in the vampire’s lap, but he finds that he doesn’t mind. Not right now. 

“Better?” Louis asks softly, running his fingers through Harry’s hair.

Harry closes his eyes. He takes deep breaths in through his nose and out his mouth to try to collect himself. The pain didn’t last long but it was long enough for it to really affect him. He’s been weak for most of his life. It’s not unusual for something like this to completely drain him. He nods to answer the vampire’s question once he realizes he was waiting for an answer.

“Good,” Louis murmurs. He continues brushing his fingers through Harry's hair, scratching at his scalp every now and then. 

Harry preens under his touch, letting himself relax in the vampire’s lap. He doesn’t know if it’s the after effect of Louis’ ability still surrounding him but he doesn’t feel afraid of him. Not during this moment at least. The wariness is still there, but it’s at the back of his mind.

“Let’s get you back in bed, darling,” Louis says gently, pausing his actions and resting his hand on the top of Harry’s arm. 

Harry nods again and lets himself be guided and tucked into bed. Louis sits on the side of the bed and continues brushing his fingers through Harry’s hair. It’s quickly becoming his favorite thing.

“Try to get some rest, it should help with the headache,” Louis whispers as Harry’s eyelids start to droop. “Thank you for trusting me to help you,” he says just as Harry drifts off. 

 

_Louis_

Louis tries not to linger too long after he hears Harry’s breath even out as the human fall asleep. He slowly eases himself off of the bed and closes the door behind him. 

Zayn is waiting in his office when he arrives.  “Everything okay?”

“Yes and no,” he says and settles in his desk chair. He pulls out the file he has on the case. “Maybe we should go over what all we know. There has to be a reason why he was still able to keep Harry for years.”

Zayn sighs and open his own file. “We notice schools were being attacked around graduation days and some of the feeders were being taken a couple decades ago. So we upped the security of all the schools and are just now finishing the upgrades. The last of the schools should be done by the end of the year.”

Louis nods, remembering having to approve budgets for the new security plans. But he also remembered being able to find the feeders that were taken from those schools. “And it was only because one of the vamps that had taken the feeders finally confessed about there being more who participated in the kidnapping that we found out about Harry’s last owner.”

The vampire only knew him by an alias, Brian. Normal and unassuming. Because of that, it had been very difficult to track him. With every other vampire they were able to reveal a name, it only led to another vampire with a different normal and unassuming name. It was a miracle that Harry was actually found. They had take an chance on an old hideout home of “Brian’s”.

They had missed Brian by minutes since Harry had fresh bite marks on his neck when he was found. Due to the sensitive situation, Louis made sure that as little information about Harry was given as possible and even went as far as letting the staff know that Harry was being bought but not telling them exactly who bought him.

“How did he slip his tail? Nick never mentioned it in his reports.” 

“There was an… incident,” Zayn starts. “Nick’s last few check-ins were promising. He was getting closer, kept Brian in his sights, but he was late with his last check-in. We, uh found him in a hotel room raving mad last night.”

“How so?”

“It’s like he couldn’t remember anything. He was ranting about this creature coming after him. A shadow monster?”

Louis looks up from Nick’s old reports “A ‘shadow monster’?”

“Yeah, our reaction too. He was taken to a treatment center. We’re thinking Brian must have some sort of ability to instill fear into people, especially since Nick was convinced there was a… monster after him.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah, and that’s not even the worst of it.”

“What could be worse?”

“Nick wasn’t at the right hotel. He was moved at least three cities over from where he had said he was heading,” Zayn explains looking frustrated. “Now we don’t know if Nick went there because Brian’s direction changed or if Brian actually moved him there to throw us off.”

“Fuck.”

 “Yeah, fuck,” Zayn says in agreement. They both lean back in their chairs, staring at the same information in front of them. “And you say Harry won’t be able to help?”

"I don’t think he will.” Louis thinks back to all the times he’s tried to learn more about the human’s past. He can’t tell if Harry is refusing to say anything because he doesn’t fully trust Louis or if he truly doesn’t remember. But Harry’s headache was worrying to him. From his lack of appetite recently to the sudden and painful headache, it brings back memories from over a century ago of someone else. 

 

_Harry_

Harry’s not even sure if he was suppose to hear the words Louis said as he was falling asleep but they warm him inside. That voice in the back of his mind is celebrating that he had allowed Louis to get this close. To allow Louis to do these things. To take care of him and be close to him. He can’t help himself when it comes to Louis and instead of letting that level of trust scare him, he imagines what his life could be like.

He can picture himself completely comfortable in this house with these people. He could redecorate his room. He could help Niall with meals and learn from the vampire on how to cook. He could talk to Liam and find a friend in him. And he and Louis… he’s not even sure what he wants from Louis, but he wouldn’t mind more nights like the one they spent out on the porch or having tea by the bay window.

He rolls over in bed and sees that it’s still night. His headache is gone, thankfully, but now his curiosity is peaked.

The only part of the house he’s seen the kitchen and part of the first floor but he wants to see more. What better time to explore than now?

He gets out of bed, taking the blanket with him, wrapping it around him to keep off the chill, and wanders out of his room. If he goes to the right, he’ll reach the staircase, so he goes left.

He finds more bedrooms with a similar layout to his and closed doors. Since he knows that Niall and Liam are somewhere in this house, he doesn’t risk opening any of them. There’s one long hallway that is lined with pictures in-between windows that shows the front of the house. He stops at one window and takes in the view.

A long front yard is lined with trees on either side of the gravel driveway, a large fountain is smack dab in the middle of the yard that’s been turned off. A few cars reside directly in front of the house. The sky is dark and full of stars and if he had a chair, Harry would sit here just to stare as he does from his view of the back of the house.

He continues on, though, stopping every now and then to look at the pictures. There’s a lot of Niall, Liam, and Louis. Pictures of them at the beach, the sun shining bright which baffles Harry as he always thought that vampires couldn’t go out in the sun. Pictures of just Niall and Liam in front of landscapes and strange looking contraptions with children in the background holding colorful balloons and sweets.

As he’s about to go down the stairs, he spies light coming from an open door. His curiosity gets the better of him as he creeps towards it, he doesn’t see anyone in the room and the air smells stale, as if no one has been in there for years. 

Inside is a room filled with boxes and boxes. A storage room perhaps. He doesn’t want to riffle through Louis’ things, as he doesn’t want to get into trouble with the vampire, but there’s something covered by a sheet that catches his eye. He doesn’t know why, but he pulls the sheet off. 

It’s an old picture of Louis and a boy around Harry’s age. In it, they are cuddled together on a picnic blanket under a tree, a lake is in the background with the sun reflecting off of it. It’s not unlike the pictures of Niall, Liam, and Louis that are in the hallway expect Louis and the boy are in an loving embrace and kissing. 

Pain and longing strikes Harry through his heart as he wants to know what has happened to the boy and why this picture is in a room long forgotten. 

Maybe Louis killed him?

_You don’t know that._ The voice in the back of his mind urges and he’s quick to push that voice away.

He leaves the room and heads down the winding staircase quietly. He passes the foyer and goes across the house to look at the backyard again. He hears voices as he passes the doors to the porch he and Louis sat the other day. He was going to go downstairs to see what other things this house holds, but he then hears his name and he has to know what the vampires are talking about.

He’s too afraid to peak in the room, worried that they’ll know he’s there and he’ll get into trouble. Instead, he leans up against the wall by the door, the voices easily reaching his ears. 

“What do we know about Harry’s past? I haven’t been able to get him to say much if anything at all.” He hears Louis ask, and he tries to keep his heart from beating out of his chest. Why is Louis asking this? It makes it sound as if Harry were a task he needed to complete. Just someone to get information out of.

“There isn’t a record on him at all. All the information we have about him, we got from his time in the hospital after we rescued him,” a voice says and he’s brought back to when he woke up in the hospital months ago. What was Zayn doing here?

“How is that even possible?”

“I have no idea. His blood sample isn’t finding any results… it’s like he never existed until July.”

“Then how did his last owner find him?”

A bolt of fear strikes through Harry at the mention of his last owner. Is he back? Is he looking for Harry? He covers his mouth with a shaky hand to try to stifle his heavy breathing. He wonders how the two vampires in the room haven’t picked up on another heartbeat and come out to see who it is. Maybe they do know he’s there and are using the conversation to scare him.

“The school?” Louis offers. “Liam mentioned seeing him at the academy when he was younger but that Harry moved. What if he didn’t move?”

“That…that could be something,” Zayn replies and Harry hears the sound of a pencil scratching against paper. “I’ll look into that. I couldn’t find anything on a Jenna at Liam’s school.”

“What was the name of his school?” 

“Umm, let’s see.” Zayn shuffles through some papers. “It was the Manchester Academy.”

_Brightly colored walls and equally colorful chairs surround tables where kids are chattering eagerly._

_“You ready Haz?” A female asks, hugging him from behind._

_“Yes, mummy. Will you come pick me up after class?”_

Harry shakes his head at the memory. Or at least, he think he was a memory. But… he can’t recall anything else from that moment no matter how hard he grasps at it.

“Wait, that was one of the schools targeted,” Louis rushes out and more papers rustle around. “They had a group of vamps kidnap about twenty feeders from the graduation class fifty years ago. But, they haven’t had any other problems since then.”

“And everyone was saved? I wasn’t on the force at that point.”

"According to the records that were retrieved, yeah. All twenty were taken back and put into therapy to help them recover. But this can’t be a coincidence that the same school Harry supposedly went to and the hospital he was at were all ransacked. It’s too similar.”

“But why him?”

Louis takes a deep breath and Harry braces for his answer. “I have no idea but I’m getting tired of hitting a brick wall at every turn.”

Harry sits there, back against the wall and hand to his mouth. Questions roll through his mind. If Harry really was at the same academy Liam was at, why can’t they find more information about him? Why was the hospital being ransacked? Is this _Him_ finally coming after him? Why can’t he just be left alone? Left here where he could have a decent life? What about the memory he had? Was it really a memory or something his mind has made up? And why does Louis and Zayn care so much? Like Zayn asked, why him? 

Suddenly, his headache from before comes roaring back with a vengeance. His groans and grabs his head as his vision starts to get blurry. 

“Shit, oh darling, what are you doing out here?” He hears Louis ask gently.

He can’t respond because the pain is so intense, rolling down his head and to the top of his spine. His chest tightens and it becomes harder and harder to breathe properly.

Louis brings his hands to Harry’s head again and the pain rolls away. 

Tears spring to his eyes, frustrated that this has happened again and in such a short amount of time. “What- what’s happening?” He asks as he starts to shake in fear. Could they be doing this? This has only happened to him while he’s been here and in the presence of Louis. Louis has the ability to change his emotions and has stopped the pain, could he also be the one causing it?

“I think he’s going through withdrawal.”

“You mean he’s blood bonded?”

Louis nods, a pained expression on his face as he keeps a hand on Harry incase the pain comes back. “He’s showing signs of it. Headaches and poor appetite are the first signs. It must have been over a year since he was last given a dose.”

“Fuck.”

  

Harry wakes up to blearing light. He groans as he rolls over to escape the brightness. Perrie then comes from the door wearing a tense expression. 

“Morning, Harry,” she says somberly and sits by the bay window.

He nods in acknowledgement but wonders why she’s here so early as she usually comes in the afternoons. 

Perrie hesitates before speaking again, almost as if she’s trying to prolong the silence. “How do you feel today?”

Harry furrows his eyebrows in confusion. It’s not like she hasn’t asked this same exact question before, it’s usually what she starts their conversations off with, but this time, her tone suggests that something is wrong. 

“Did he find me?” He whispers out and starts to draw in on himself.

“No,” Perrie answers but her expression is still making him nervous, as if something bad has happened. “Be very glad that he hasn’t.” She opens her mouth to continue but stops several times. She smoothes down the fabric of her trousers and then looks directly at him. “Have you ever heard of being blood bonded?”

Then the events of last night flash through his mind. The intense headaches, Louis coming to help twice, the conversation he overheard between Louis and Zayn, how his last owner is looking for him and that he might have been taken from a school over fifty years ago even though he’s only in his twenties.

He becomes tense and doesn’t move to go join her by the window. 

When he doesn’t answer, Perrie decides to continue. “There are times where a feeder and a vampire might decide to extend their relationship past the normal life expectancy of the human feeder. That’s where a blood bond comes. It’s not a difficult process. The vampire and the human have to share blood in order for it to work. It slows down the aging process for the human, but it doesn’t make them immortal.”

Harry doesn’t react to the information, refusing to show any sort of emotion. 

“But there are times when the two decide to break the blood bond which can be quite painful for the human. Headaches, and loss of appetite are some of the first signs of a blood bond breaking. It’s your body’s way of telling you that it needs another dose of the vampire’s blood. That’s what’s happening to you.” Perrie pauses to let it sink in but his mind is blank. 

Harry feels empty inside and not for the reason Perrie said. Blood bonded. He’s been connected to _Him_ for who knows how long. It would explain why Liam seems to remember him from a young age. But that would mean that Liam is blood bonded since they look like the same age.

He twists the sheets in his hands but still doesn’t say anything. 

“It can also explain why your memories aren’t coming back to you. That could change in the next few weeks.” She waits for Harry to say or do something but he stays still. “It’s going to be painful to go through the withdrawal. Louis can help, if you’d like him too.”

Harry looks towards the door where he’s sure the vampire is waiting and listening. “Is that all?”

Out of the corner of his eye, he see Perrie bite her lip and nod her head. “If you’d like it to, it can be. I can go?”

Harry nods, not wanting to hear anymore. It seems most conversations lately have brought nothing but something else to drag him down, to remind him that he still can’t escape his last owner. Just like he was told. _He’ll_ always be able to find Harry.

Perrie leaves just as quietly and quickly as she arrived and Harry is alone again. Though not completely alone, he corrects himself as he falls back on the bed, bringing the sheets up with him. His owner’s blood is running through his veins and have been for years and possibly decades if he can really trust what he’s overheard last night.

Fifty years. He’s been with his last owner for at least fifty years.

Fifty years of his life wasting away.

Fifty years of his life trapped.

Fifty years he will never be able to get back again.

He rolls back over and goes back to sleep. There’s nothing else for him to do.

_“Stop it!” A shrill voice yells, stopping the man from biting down._

_The vampire turns and faces the young girl across the room. Her hands are cuffed behind her and there’s a bruise at her temple with dried blood in her hair. But she still has a determined look on her face as if she could take on the world despite the situation she’s in._

_She’s definitely the boldest one of this group. Usually they stay silent and submissive, as if they feel it’s already over._

_Harry’s learned not to get too attached to the groups. They come and go too quickly._

_“Oh, you’re going to regret that.”_

_In a blink of an eye, the vampire has yanked the girl’s neck to the side by her hair and the girl screams out in pain as the vampire sloppily feeds until she’s silent. He leaves her slumped over against the wall._

_The others in the room, all around Harry’s age stare at the girl’s body. One burst into tears and others stay stone faced like Harry._

_Harry’s owner likes to play with the newest additions._

 

 

Harry stays in seclusion for the next few weeks. He rarely leaves his room, only to sneak out to grab something from the kitchen. He still makes sure to bathe and change clothes, but he keeps his distance from everyone else in the household. Especially the vampires.

He’s not really sure why no one has tried to drag him out of the room. Maybe they’re finally giving up on him.

But probably not, since Perrie still comes around to talk. Mainly she talks and he listens. He hasn’t spoken to anyone in a while.

But he does talk, in a way, to a journal he found in one of the desk drawers. Perrie was right when she said his memories were going to come back. They’ve come back in the form of nightmares, and they’ve all been about his time with his owner. Even some have come back to him with more detail. 

And they confuse him even more.Was he in a cell in a cold stoney basement or was he simply trapped in a finished basement like any other home in the world? What really happened to those kids? Those who were trapped just like him? He has an idea but he doesn’t want to entertain it. Doesn’t want to think about it because deep down he knows. He knows that there’s a really good chance that those kids are not alive anymore.

Has that been happening for fifty years? Has he seen groups of kids just like him shipped off to vampires like… like. He knocks his head back against the wall from where he’s sitting by the window. Why can’t he remember his owner’s name? His memories are coming back. Why won’t his name come back too?

He can easily remember his face, stoney but in the way that could be considered attractive. Gold colored eyes and then long eyelashes. Brown hair kept shaven close. But his smile always bothered Harry. It was always fixed into a perpetual smirk as if he knew he could charm anyone into doing anything he wanted. Maybe he could. Maybe that was his ability. Super compulsion. Though that phrase sounded ridiculous, even to Harry.

He’s drawn out of his thoughts by a knock at his door. Harry is quick to stuff the notebook in-between the mattress before he walks over to open the door.

Liam is on the other side carrying a large tray of food.

Harry doesn’t say anything to the other human but lets him in. When he turns around, Liam is pulling two chairs over to the desk by the wall.

“Thought you might like someone to eat with tonight,” Liam offers when he sees Harry’s confused expression.

Dinner that night is a pasta bowl which makes it easy for Harry to grab the bowl and go back over to the bay window, stretching his legs across the settee, leaving no room for Liam to sit with Harry if he wanted to.

Liam doesn’t seem bothered by Harry’s movement and pulls a chair over to sit with him.

They eat in silence for a few moments, the only sound in the room is the heat wafting in from the vents in the ceiling and the clang of forks in the bowls.

“When I first got to the academy, I was terrified,” Liam starts and Harry immediately tenses up. “Becoming a feeder was something that I’d seen advertised on TV every now and then. When I was seven, I thought that vampires would immediately start feeding on the kids in the academy but we weren’t even thought about what it really means to be a feeder until we were teenagers.

“But we were always given a choice on whether we wanted to continue in the academy. There were a few kids who decided in the middle of the school year not to become a feeder and they left to go to the regular schools. It was instilled in us by the professors that we always had the upper hand in any relationship we would have with a vampire, romantic or not. We’re their life source, and we were to be treated well.”

Harry stops eating and drops his fork in the bowl making a loud clang as it falls. 

“I-I don’t really know where I’m going with this,” Liam admits. “But I want you to know that you still have a choice in this life.” Out of the corner of Harry’s eye, he sees Liam place his bowl on the floor and give Harry his full attention. “You have all the control. I know it must not have been easy to hear about the blood bond but once it’s broken fully you’ll be free. Free of him and free from your past.”

Harry wipes the tears that have fallen down his face during Liam’s speech, takes a deep breath, and rotates his head to the other human. “I will never be free until he’s dead… and he—they can’t find him. I’ll never be free,” he whispers and goes back to eating but not really tasting the food anymore but going through the motions so it’ll appease Liam.

Liam pauses for just a moment, picks up his bowl and says, “Not yet.”

 

_Louis_

Louis can’t sleep. Though, he doesn’t really need to sleep, being a vampire, and all but who doesn’t like crawling into a cosy bed and wrap up in a soft blanket? But this particular night, not even his softest blanket is helping.

He couldn’t help but overhear Liam and Harry’s conversation during dinner. He’s let Harry be by himself since Perrie broke the news to the human boy that he was blood bonded to his last owner. To “Brian” or whoever the fuck the sick bastard is called. He knows how painful it is to a human to go through withdrawals. He’s seen it firsthand. 

Louis finds himself in front of a storage room upstairs. He knows exactly what’s in here. He was the one who put the boxes in the room all those years ago. So many years ago.  It’s why he hesitates before he steps into the room. 

The room smells musty and he sees dust covering almost everything. But someone has been in here. A picture that Louis has not seen in decades is suddenly out in the open. He knows he covered it to protect it from the dust but to also keep him from seeing it if he ever did come back into the room.

_“Louis!” Thomas laughs as Louis splashes him in the face. “Stop!”_

_Louis doesn’t listen and giggles at the boy’s reaction. “No! You tried to drown me!”_

_“It’s not my fault you weren’t ready! I told you I was going to hop on your back!” Thomas tries to get closer to the vampire to get him to stop, but Louis stays out of reach. “You’re a vampire! You can’t die!”_

_Louis stops at this and wades through the lake water to wrap Thomas in a hug. “Of course I would! I would perish without you.”_

_Thomas chuckles and leans his head against Louis. “You’re so dramatic, Lou.”_

Louis takes a shaky breath as memories of Thomas come roaring back. Spending time with his feeder by the lake was one of the boy’s favorite things to do. Thomas loved being in the water. He relished every opportunity he had to splash around with Louis when Louis could take a break from meetings.

He was the last feeder Louis had and was with him for almost a century. Louis and Thomas were head over heels in love. But Thomas decided one day to break the blood bond he and Louis had.

_“I think it’s time for me to move on.”_ Thomas had said one day. 

Louis was devastated but stayed by Thomas’ side as he was wracked with headaches and became weak. He did his best to ease the pain and stayed with him as he grew old over the years. Louis was tempted to sneak his blood into Thomas’ food but he would never truly go through with it. If Thomas was ready to move on, then he had to accept it. 

Soon after Thomas’ death, Louis packed up all of the human’s belongings, any memorabilia they shared, and stored it in this room. He’d go through one day when his heart wasn’t heavy and reminiscence over one of the happiest times of his long vampiric life.

He stares at the picture now, traces the shape of Thomas’ face, and lets himself mourn the lost of the boy.

It’s been so long since he’s thought about Thomas. He’s tried to keep it pushed to the far corners of his mind and he threw himself into his work instead. He’s written laws to help protect humans and feeders especially, to give them more of a say in their lives. He’s given the schools, whether they were a feeder academy or not, the best upgrades as possible to keep everyone safe. He’s worked with the Vampire Task Force to find those humans in trouble and bring justice to those who refused to follow the laws in place to help humans and vampires coincide.

Having Harry in his home, getting to witness his pain of a breaking blood bond, brings back all those memories of Thomas and reasons why he’s glad for the position he’s in. His old age coming in handy. He’s not the oldest vampire out there per say, but he’s one of the oldest which gives him a position of superiority. 

It was always something Thomas teased him about.

Louis turns away from the picture and opens on the boxes. On top is some of Thomas’ notebooks. When Louis was in meetings, Thomas would hide away somewhere in the home and sketch out any details near him. There are endless pages of sketches of stairs, closeups of the crown moldings, and drawings of the trees outside. But there’s one page that makes Louis pause and brings tears to his eyes. A letter Thomas wrote to him before he passed. 

_My dearest Louis,_

_I have loved every moment we’ve shared. You have made my life extraordinary just by being in your presence. I hope that one day you will find another to bring light to your eyes and ignite a fire in your heart._

_Forever yours,_

_Thomas_

Louis slides down to the floor, leans his head against the one of the boxes, traces Thomas’ words, and thinks about the boy down the hall. 

 

_Harry_

_It started like any other day. His mum dropped him off at his classroom, he hugged her tightly and went over to his cubby to take off his coat and put away his lunchbox._

_He sits beside of Liam, the first friend he made since moving to Manchester, and the two started talking about the latest Marvel comic before Mrs. Trotter calls the class to attention._

_They learn about the weather system today._

_During lunch, Harry trades half of his PB &J for half of Liam’s ham and cheese. He sees his older sister, Gemma, from across the cafeteria talking to her friends. He was just about to wave get her attention when alarms blare overhead. Students scatter in panic and Liam grabs Harry’s hand and pulls him out of the cafeteria with the rest of his class. Several teachers line the halls keeping watch and urging students into classrooms._

_Suddenly, Harry is being yanked away from Liam and in a blink of an eye, he’s in a van. He can’t see his captor but he manages to see a pair of golden eyes, the top half of a salesman’s uniform, and hears a gruff voice say, “You’re going to be fun.”_

Harry wakes up with tears in his eyes as the memory of his kidnapping comes back. He never had a chance to fight back or yell out. He couldn’t even see where he went. One moment Liam was holding on tightly and the next he was ripped from his life. Just like that.

And he remembers his sister! He has an older sister! Though…he reminds himself, this happened over fifty years ago. She could of also been taken. She could be dead now for all he knows and he has no way to find her.

He takes a moment of gather himself before reaches down and pulls out his notebook to write down all that he can recall. When he’s done, he gets out of bed and heads to the bathroom to take a shower and start the day.

 

Later in the afternoon, he wanders downstairs and goes over to Louis’ office. He hasn’t been to this side of the house since he overheard Louis and Zayn’s conversation about him. He’s avoided it every time he’s snuck downstairs.

He takes a deep breath and tries to stop his hands from shaking as he goes to knock on the door. 

“Come in, Harry,” Louis says and Harry slowly opens the door.

He’s only saw a glimpse of this room once so he takes a moment to look around. Bookshelves line all the walls, there’s even a metal, spiral staircase leading to a second story of shelves. To the right of the stairs is a gigantic fireplace with a comfy looking couch in front of it. French doors lead out to the courtyard Harry saw on one of his explorations of the house. 

Louis sits behind his desk and there’s a fire crackling in the fireplace. He looks up from his computer and gives Harry a warm smile.

“Is everything alright?” He asks when he pick up on Harry’s nervous energy.

Harry walks close enough to place his notebook on Louis’ desk. Louis hesitates before he grabs the notebook. 

“What’s this?”

Harry pauses to collect himself before he explains, trying to speak louder than a whisper. “Perrie was right. My mem—memories are coming back.” He nods to the book. “I wrote down all I can remember now.”

Louis opens the book and skims a few pages. 

“His name is Finn. He’s the one who took me. He delivered water to the workrooms and gave me a sticker the day I visited the s-school.” Harry takes a deep breath to steady himself. “He took me over fifty years ago. He took me b-because I was young and I was going to be ‘fun’ for him. I-I think he was bored with older kids and wanted to sc-scare me. He used his ability to m-make me think that I w-was in a cell, b-but I was in a finished basement for my entire childhood.

“I don’t want to relive these memories again.” Tears start to fall and his breathing starts to become choppy but he continues. “I realize that by keeping it t-t-to myself, that there are others just like me who are suffering be-because of hi-him. Those who were taken and who wasn’t given a choice.”

Louis stares at him in awe and gratitude. “Thank you, Harry,” his says softly. “This will help tremendously.”

Harry nods and leaves the room quickly, going back up to the safety and comfort of his room.

 

Liam finds him in bed a few hours later. He lingers in the doorway with shiny eyes. “You have your memories back?”

Harry nods somberly. “Most of ‘em,” he whispers.

“Can I join you?” Liam gestures to the bed and Harry almost goes to say no but relents. He knows Liam. He can remember Liam.

At Harry’s approval, Liam rushes over to the bed and climbs in. He maintains a safe distance away from Harry though which Harry appreciates.

“I have no idea why I didn’t remember you were taken,” Liam confesses, facing him. “Maybe you would have been found sooner if I did.”

Harry shakes his head. “We were both young. We shouldn’t blame ourselves for what happened. It happened so fast that there was n-nothing anyone c-could have done.”

They lay together for several minutes and Harry realizes that it’s one of the first times he’s felt truly comfortable around someone else.

 

 

When he finds out from Liam that Louis and Zayn have left for the coast to track Finn down, he doesn’t know what to think. On one hand, he can not wait until Finn is captured and gone from his life for good. He won’t miss him, he won’t mourn for him; on the contrary, he will rejoice when Finn is finally dead. 

It’s what he deserves for kidnapping Harry and torturing him for fifty years. For taking away his childhood, his choice, and his family. 

But what will he do when it’s all over? How does someone like him continue on after everything he’s been through? He doesn’t own anything, he doesn’t have a home, and he doesn’t know really anything about this world.

He doesn’t think Louis will kick him out once it’s all said and done. Even though Harry still is unsure about Louis, he feels deep down that the vampire wouldn’t do that to him. But would he make Harry his feeder now? He hasn’t seen anyone else for Louis. Would he be expected to? And if he wasn’t, how could he live here? What will Harry do with his life now?

On the other hand, he’s worried for Louis. He can’t help but worry that somehow Finn will find a way to harm Louis and will be able to find Harry and kill him. He doesn’t want that to happen. Louis may still scare him but he doesn’t want one of the only vampire’s who have shown him an ounce of kindness be hurt because of him.

All he can do really is sit and wait.

The waiting part is difficult. For the past few days, Harry has gone down for meals in the hope that Niall, who was left in charge of the house, had an update. But the updates were sparse and didn’t really have too much details, just that they were safe and still looking.

Harry was getting restless though and Liam could tell.

“Do you want to talk a walk outside?” Liam suggests one afternoon.

Harry looks up from a book he’s found in Louis’ office and then glances out the window. The sun is shining bright and he can see the wind rustling the branches. 

“Sure,” he agrees and makes his spot in the book. “Is it cold outside?”

Liam shifts his weight and shrugs. “Kinda. Might want a jacket. Spring is almost here but the wind makes it feel like winter.”

One jacket, a pair of shoes, and a pair of borrowed sunglasses later, Liam and Harry are walking out the front door. 

The gravel of the driveway crunches under their feet as they walked to the right of the house, towards the large courtyard that Harry’s spotted from Louis’ office windows. The sky is the perfect shade of blue and there isn’t a cloud in sight. Harry breathes deeply and tucks his hands into the pockets of the jacket. 

“How are you holding up?” Liam asks as they walk down the concrete stairs towards the open field behind the house. 

Harry takes a moment to think about that, looking at the trees in the distance and spying a lake through them. He’s fine he guesses. As fine as he can be at the moment. He feels like he’s waiting for the other shoe to drop. For the phone call to come that Finn has escaped Louis and Zayn, managed to kill them, and is now on his way straight to Harry to get the job done. A part of him believes that Finn always planned on killing Harry. He’s not sure why he wasn’t.

“Okay, I’m…I’m ready for this to be over with.”

“Me too,” Liam says. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Louis so stressed before or talking to Zayn so much.”

Harry’s face scrunches in confusion. “With Zayn?”

Liam looks over rat him. “Oh yeah, they have this weird tension between them. I think something happened between them in the past.”

“Like what?”

Liam shrugs. “No idea. I don’t even think Niall knows. But he might, he practically knows everything.”

They veer in the direction of the back of the house and from here, Harry can see the entirety of the mansion. Stone walls four floors tall with the bottom floor separate from the rest by the porch. Harry tries to pick out his bedroom window but there are too many for him to figure out exactly.

In the daylight, he can see all the ornate details from gargoyles to the patina copper lining the roof. “How did Louis get a…house like this?”

While the inside of the home looks modern, the outside is a completely different story. Harry feels like this house has been here for centuries and having an inkling as to how old Louis is, it’s very possible that the home _has_ been here for centuries.

“I haven’t heard the full story, you’ll have to ask Louis, but I think he had this built in the 1800s?” Liam leans back to look at the home like Harry was. “It is a bit much isn’t it?” He says with a chuckle.

Harry cracks a smile. “Fanciest place I’ve been in. Definitely fancier than what I remember the academy being.”

The two wander back to the side steps and up to the gazebo in the corner of the courtyard. They take a seat and Harry’s grateful for the tall stone half wall to help block the wind. “Can I ask you something?” Harry asks, peeking at Liam from the corner of his eye.

“Sure,” Liam says, curiosity in his tone.

Harry tries to word the question in his mind. “What happened at the academy after I…left?”

Liam’s expression softens since he knows that Harry must be curious about the times he missed while he was with Finn. “Well, after the attack, all of our parents came to get us. The whole school was told to go home while they did repairs. Apparently, someone had started fires in a few buildings and they were major damages that needed to be fixed.

“They sent us recommendations for therapists if we needed it. Most of the older kids, the ones who were in the room with the graduates, needed them.”

Harry cuts him off. “Did you?”

Liam shook his head. “For a few sessions. I told them about you, about what happened to you.”

 

Harry looks down and fiddles with the strings of the hoodie. 

“But," Liam continues, “I eventually went back to school and graduated. I met Niall shortly after the graduation ceremony and we hung out a few times before I officially became his feeder.”

“How does that work? The…feeder thing?”

Liam ponders it for a moment, leaning back against the bench. “After graduation, we’re signed up to the actual feeder program that vamps can use to find someone for them. I think they’re suppose to go to Blood Banks and register there that they’re looking and the people there help them meet up with feeders but most just come to the graduation ceremony.

“Niall had been looking for some time and saw me and asked if we could go for lunch sometime to see if we were compatible.” Liam scrunches his face and looks more like an upset puppy than a human. “Kinda sounds like a matchmaking date, but it’s not. Not with us at least. I know there are some feeders who are actually in romantic relationships with their vampires.”

“You’re not? But you’re blood bonded.” 

Liam shakes his head. “No we’re not together, Niall has this thing with another vamp, Shawn. They’ve been flirting like crazy for so long. But we are blood bonded, but more like a friendship relationship.”

The sounds of tires on gravel pull them away from the conversation. They turn their heads to see who’s pulled up. As the figure comes around to the side of the house, Harry’s heart stutters in his chest when he sees who it is.

Louis.

The vampire stops under the pergola when he sees Niall come from around back. They embrace and as Niall greets him.

 

_Louis_

Louis tries not to turn away from Niall while he’s talking, but he is so tempted especially when he realizes that the huge wave of relief he’s picking up on his not coming from Liam, but from Harry. He can only guess why the human feeling that way, and he’s trying really hard not to let his mind go there.

“-been fine here. Just getting tired of Zayn’s cryptic messages to be fucking honest.”

Louis has to laugh at the Irishman’s bluntness. “Yeah, I know. He’s still over there tracking Finn. Let me tell you, that’s one slick bastard.”

“Yeah?”

Louis nods and runs his fingers through his hair. “Yeah, he’s been dodging us for some time now. He’s really good and leaving little evidence at the places he’s stayed at. The entire room cleaned of fingerprints, no blood stains, no hair in the drain. Nothing. Like he wasn’t even there. He even has decoy vamps splitting up.”

Niall’s eyebrows raise in surprise. “Fuck, that’s some James Bond shit, innit?”

“No kidding.”

“Where all are they leading you?”

“All around the country. Dipping south, heading north, but we think we found the right path. Zayn has his… resources to help him.”

Niall snorts at Louis’ pause. “Resources? The same ones he used when the two of you were—”

“Yes, those Niall,” Louis says stiffly.

“Still not over that are you? It’s been what? A couple centuries ago?”

“I’m not bitter,” Louis defends. 

Niall gives him an incredulous look. “I didn’t say you were bitter…”

Louis smacks him on the shoulder. “Fuck off."

Niall giggles to himself, muttering words like ‘stubborn kings’ and ‘invasions’. 

Whatever. It was a long, long time ago and Louis is over it. Definitely over it. Has been over it.

“Why did you come back?” Niall asks and quickly adds. “Not that I’m not happy to have you home, I am, but just wondering why you aren’t out there looking for him with Zayn.”

Louis shuffles his feet and tries his very best not to look in the direction of the two humans making their way across the courtyard. “You know… I have meetings to attend.”

It takes Niall than a second for his expression to go from curious to downright amused. “Oh ho! Meetings you say?”

“What’s that suppose to mean? Of course I have meetings!” Louis argues, gesturing to his office behind them. “I have piles of work I need to get through.”

“Uh huh,” Niall says very much amused, not even attempting to hide his smirk. “I hope you and the ‘meetings’ have fun.” He turns away and heads back inside calling out over his shoulder. “I’m getting started on dinner! Don’t fuck it up!”

“You’re just gonna call Shawn!” Louis yells back. 

“Exactly!” Niall’s laugh follows him inside and Louis rolls his eyes. 

His friend is being ridiculous. To insinuate that the only reason he came back was to see Harry. Ridiculous. He does have meetings he has to get to, phone calls to make, emails to send, reports to read. The thought of getting through all of that though is making his head start to ache. He could probably eat too. Not regular food either. But that is what the mini fridge in his room is for.

He sneaks another peak at the humans who have moved under the gazebo to try to block out the wind. Harry looks relaxed talking to Liam. Frankly, he looks adorable, and Louis has to tamp down the urge to go over there and curl around Harry’s back in a cuddle. 

He has no idea where the urge came from because he knows that Harry would surely freak out if anyone did something like that to him, let alone a vampire. But still, it was there. The desire to hold Harry, to be close to him.

Louis looks back up and takes in Harry’s features. His curly hair is getting tangled in the wind and won’t stay behind his ears, even though the boy tries to tuck it back behind every so often. He can’t see his eyes because the sunglasses are blocking Louis’ view. Which is a shame because he would love to know what shade of green his eyes would be in the sunlight. 

He’s shoulders are hunched, probably due to the wind, but maybe because of a sudden growth spurt. Louis longs to know what he feels like to have Harry’s body against his. Not in a sexual way, even though his thoughts have strayed there for an instant, but just to see if it would feel right like how he imagines. Would Harry curl against his body to fit or will Louis have to stand on tiptoes?

He has to stop thinking about that though. Harry is still fragile and there are more important things to worry about. Like finding Finn and dealing with the huge stack of papers on his desk he needs to go through. 

With one last glance over at Harry, Louis pushes himself away from the railing and uses the side door to his office. Time to get to work.

 

_Harry_

Dinner that night is a spectacle. Mainly because Niall is doing his very best to keep the conversation going in every direction but to the search for Finn. Harry knows what the vampire is doing and he appreciates it. He doesn't really want to think about him at all. He’d rather think about Louis if he’s perfectly honest.

It’s getting harder not to think about the vampire, especially when he’s sitting right next to him. It’s not like they haven’t sat next to one another before during a meal. The four of them have self-assigned seats and it would seem weird if Harry sat anywhere else but beside of Louis. Not that he wants to move in the first place.

Besides, Louis’ presence is calming and he can’t tell if Louis’ ability is responsible or if it’s just something that comes with being around Louis. He turns his grin downwards to his lap when Louis makes a joke.

“I swear!” Louis exclaims. “Niall is the most dramatic person I’ve ever met! And that includes Shakespeare.”

Niall throws a roll at Louis who easily catches it and throws it right back. “That’s because you’re so old.”

“Older and wiser.”

“Just because I’m taking _my time_ getting to know Shawn doesn’t mean I’m _pining_ for him.”

Liam and Louis look at one another with exasperation. “You’re pining,” they say in unison and Niall blushes as he gasps and holds a hand to his chest.

“I am offended. My blood bond _and_ my best mate coming for me like this?”

Louis glances over at Harry. “What do you think, H?”

Harry tries to hide a grin when he looks to Niall. “You might be pining,” he says quietly which causes Louis to burst out laughing.

“See!” The older vampire boasts.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Niall says and gets up from the table, taking his empty plate with him. “You’re all a bunch of cunts.”

“Pinning and bitter. Sounds like a bad love song,” Liam mutters and another dinner roll comes flying out of the kitchen and hits Liam on the side of the head with perfect accuracy. 

“Oi!”

“That’s what you get!” Niall calls out loud enough for them to hear. The three of them chuckle at the vampire’s antics.

Harry gets up and takes his plate too. “I can help clean up,” he offers and goes to the sink and starts scraping some of the scraps to the garbage disposal. 

“It’s fine, mate. You don’t have to,” Niall protests.

Harry shrugs and turns on the water to start filling up the sink. “Take it as a thank you for making my meals,” he mumbles, trying not to make a big deal of it.

Niall gives him a small smile. “No thanks needed. Just glad you’re starting to feel better.” He lays a hand on Harry’s shoulder for just a second before starts putting the leftovers up.

A few minutes later, Liam and Louis bring in their own dishes. While Liam leaves as soon as he places his plate by the sink, Louis lingers by the door of the kitchen as Harry puts the dishes in the dishwasher.

Harry can feel the vampire watching him and he tries to tamper down any urge he might have to look up.

“Need any help?” Louis asks quietly as if he was trying not to spook Harry. 

Harry shakes his head and glances at the vampire. “There’s not much to do.” When the dishwasher is full he looks around for the soap. “Erm,” he feels his cheeks warm as he realizes that he has no idea how to do something mundane as start a dishwasher. “Actually I do.” He points to the dishwasher. “I don’t know where the soap for this is… or how to start it.”

Louis smiles and opens the cabinet under the sink to pull out the dishwashing liquid. “Sometimes Niall puts this stuff in when he sees it’s getting full but,” he opens a small compartment in the door of the dishwasher and starts to pour some of the liquid in. “It looks like he didn’t.” He closes the door, presses a few buttons, and then they hear water going through the pipes. “There we go.”

Harry shyly nods and wipes his hands on a towel before handing it to Louis to do the same. “Thank you.”

“Any time.” 

They don’t move to leave the kitchen and Harry finds himself trying to think of something else to say to Louis. Literally anything to keep them talking.

“Want some dessert?” Louis asks and he goes over to the freezer.

“Oh, um. Dinner kinda filled me up.” Harry winces as he says so. While he has been eating more, he still can’t eat as much food as the others. 

Louis freezes from where he’s holding a pint of ice cream. “Oh, yeah. We just ate dinner. Sorry.” He turns to put the dessert back and Harry swears he sees Louis blush. Can vampires blush? 

Harry bites his lip and struggles to say something else. “I guess I’ll,” he gestures in the direction of the stairs. “I’ll start getting ready for bed.”

“Oh,” Louis says, seemingly disappointed. “Okay, have a good night, Harry.”

“Thanks, Louis.” Harry starts walking backwards. “Glad you’re back,” he says slowly and he sees Louis’ lips turn up in a smile.

Harry has to rush up the stairs to keep himself from doing something he might regret like letting himself get closer to the vampire.

He’s quick to draw himself and bath and soaks in for a long time before he crawls into bed, exhausted from today.

 

_Louis_

Louis is in the middle of replying to an email when he hears Harry slowly walking towards his office. He pauses his keystrokes and waits for the knock to come. The last time Harry came to see him, he brought his journal with him. Louis’ read it several times through, he time made his heart ache in sympathy for the human and in rage for what happened to him.

While he’s glad that he’s back home, back where he can see that Harry is safe, he wishes that he could be out there finding Finn and making him pay for everything he’s done not only to Harry but to all the other humans he kidnapped only to be sold in a trading ring. But he knows that day will come. Finn will be executed and Louis will have zero remorse.

The knock does come and it’s just as timid as it was before. 

“Come in, Harry,” he calls out loud enough for the human to hear.

Harry pokes his head in. “Do you mind if I read in here?” He asks holding up a book.

“Of course,” Louis says and gestures to the couch by the fireplace. “Make yourself at home. As long as you don’t mind me working.”

Harry steps fully into the room and Louis sees that he’s wearing a blanket over a sweater like a shaw and it takes everything in Louis not to awe at the sight. The human looks so cozy and so damn cuddly that Louis is tempted to leave his work behind in favor of sitting with the human by the fire and just watching him.

That might be a little creepy though.

So instead he turns back to his email as he should and gets back to work. Louis stays busy for a few hours and almost forgets about Harry being there but the feeling of content coming off of Harry and the sound of pages turning reminds him that he’s not alone in the room. It’s a comforting feeling, one he hasn’t felt in a long time. Usually, Liam and Niall leave him be while he works, only coming in to bother him or to drag him in to another argument they might have over something trivial. 

Louis is use to being alone while he works. It’s all he’s known for a few centuries now but the sound of Harry’s steady heartbeat and his breathing brings a smile to his lips.

“Can I ask you something?” Harry asks after he’s come back from the kitchen with a snack. 

“Sure,” Louis says, rubbing his eyes. He needs to remember to take breaks from looking the computer screen. He might be a vampire but even his eyes can get tired from time to time.

“Why is the outside of the house so…” He trails off and scrunches his mouth to one side as if he were trying to think of the correct word.

“Outlandish?” Louis offers with a grin teasing his lips.

Harry holds back a smile and nods. “Yeah, Liam and I were looking at it the other day.”

“Well,” Louis sends off another email before giving Harry his attention. “I was feeling particularly, erm, ostentatious when I decided to have this all built.” He gestures to the floor to ceiling bookcase, the spiral staircase leading to a balcony that goes around three of the four walls to give him access to the second case. “The architect had just gotten back from France at the time and the chateaux design was popular. But I tried to keep the interior updated as technology advanced.”

“I like it,” Harry murmurs with a soft smile.

Louis mirrors his expression. “I’m glad.” He bites his lip when Harry turns back to his book. “Would you like me to show you what the inside use to look like?” He blurts out.

Harry looks up with a bright smile. “Yeah, that’d be nice.”

Louis grins and gets up from his desk to go over to one of the bookshelves. He brushes his fingers over the books, searching for the right one. “Here it is,” he mutters and pulls out a thick scrapbook. 

He clears off a space on his desk and gestures for Harry to come over. The book is filled with pictures from the pre-renovation stages, back when the home was still decorated like it was the 1800s. “Those curtains were in most of the rooms,” Louis says, pointing at dark red heavy looking curtains that framed the windows. “And they were a pain in the ass to keep the dust off of. Made me sneeze every time I brushed up against them.”

Harry scoots a little closer to take a better look at the pictures and Louis tries his very best not to give into his instincts and place a hand on the small of the human’s back. “What made you finally change everything?”

Louis shrugs. “Just wanted one I guess. Niall had moved back in and I realized that I couldn’t stay living in the 1800s while also staying up to date with the world when it comes to my job.”

“What is that you do?” Harry asks slowly and Louis picks up on his nervous tone. 

“I’m recognized as one of the oldest vampires and have been appointed, erm, king?” Louis explains almost shyly. He doesn’t want to come across bigheaded, calling himself a king because he doesn’t see himself as one at all. Just because he’s old doesn’t mean he’s deserving of that title. Yes, he has technically been king when he was human but that doesn’t count. “So I work with the different governments and help them do what they need to do for their people. They send in reports monthly and I go through to see what can be done to help them. It’s basically a lot of paperwork and staring at screen for far too long.”

“That’s not very kingly of you. Don’t you have a crown?” Harry says and Louis swears he sees a smirk starting to form on Harry’s lips.

“It has a room of it’s own actually,” Louis replies back and Harry breaks out in a wide smile. Louis can’t help but reciprocate the gesture, pleased that Harry seems comfortable to not only be around Louis but to also banter slightly with him. Yeah, Louis thinks, Harry will be fine.

 

 

Towards the beginning of June, three months after the search for Finn started, Niall comes into Louis’ office with an announcement. “It’s movie night. First one starts in ten minutes.”

“It’s two in the afternoon,” Louis says without looking up from his computer.

“The movie room is downstairs for a reason.”

“There’s a movie room?” Harry asks from his regular spot on the couch. The human has practically claimed the couch as his own since he’s often laying there while Louis works. Most of the time, he’s reading one of the many books in Louis’ collection, but other times he’s talking to Louis, asking questions about everything that seems to come into Harry’s mind. 

Now, he reminds Louis of a puppy with his wide eyes and excited expression. “You never told me there was a movie room.” The sentence is directed at Louis and he sends the human an amused look. 

“You never asked to see downstairs.”

Niall rolls his eyes as he leaves the office, hollering over his shoulder. “You two better be there!”

“Guess we better go then,” Louis says with an exaggerated sigh.

Harry giggles quietly which makes Louis preen as he guides Harry out of the office and over to the staircase. 

They bypass Louis’ shooting range and head further down the hall. The theater was a new addition within the last few years, at Niall’s insistence of course. There were two rows of leather recliners, a popcorn machine in the corner, and a bookcase full of various DVDs in the other. 

Liam is already in the middle of the first row with a bowl of popcorn already in hand. 

“What are we watching first, Nialler?” Louis asks, plopping down in the seat behind Liam, perfect place to throw popcorn at the human during the movie. Harry takes the seat next to him and drapes his go-to blanket over his lap. If Louis happens to lean against the arm rest closest to Harry just so he feel the body heat coming off of him, then no one will know.

“Starting off with a classic, _The Proposal_!” He says, dimming the lights.

Louis rolls his eyes. “Seriously? That’s the most unrealistic movie ever.”

“Oh shut up and eat your popcorn,” Niall says, thrusting a bowl of popcorn at Louis before going over to sit beside if Liam.

“Yeah yeah yeah,” Louis mutters under his breath. 

Louis stays in that position throughout the whole movie and he can sense Harry starting to lean closer to him too. But when the scene where Sandra Bullock’s character starts chanting _to the window to the wall_ , Harry turns and rests his head on Louis’ shoulder as he breathlessly giggles.

Louis doesn’t move even a millimeter for fear that it will cause Harry to realize what he’s doing and will shrink back into his shell. He doesn’t move, though. Harry does lift his head when the scene ends, but he stays close to Louis, their shoulders brushing every now and then.

Louis swears if his heart was able to beat again, it would be beating fast.

 

_Harry_

Two weeks after the movie night, Harry finds himself back in the kitchen learning how to bake brownies from Liam. Niall is sitting at the breakfast bar practically pouting because Liam refuses to let the vampire help them.

“But you’ll do it so slow,” Niall complains as the two humans rearrange the ingredients and get out the proper utensils they’ll need.

“Not everything needs to be done at vampire speed, Niall,” Liam argues. 

“But we’ll get brownies faster if I do, Le-umm,” Niall fires back copying the same mocking tone Liam used.

Harry chuckles as he looks over the recipe to make sure they have everything they’ll need. In the past several months, he’s gotten use to Niall and Liam’s constant bickering over something. While he still doesn’t feel like he could contribute to the teasing, he feels happier than he has in a long time. They have a way of distracting him from his inner most worries.

They’re just about to start when Louis comes rushing into the kitchen. “Zayn got him.”

Everyone freezes in their spots as they stare at Louis, waiting for him to continue. “He just called and said Finn was trying to sneak out of the country in a shipping yard but he’s now captured and detained. The sentencing should only take a few days, but we finally got the bastard.”

“Really?” Harry manages to ask, holding his breath, refusing to get his hopes up. 

Louis nods and sends him a reassuring smile. “They’ve got him, Haz. He’s not going to hurt you or anyone else ever again.”

The words send Harry’s mind into a tailspin as he burst into tears. His knees give out and he would of hit the floor if it weren’t for Louis racing over to catch him at the last second. They sink down to the floor together and Harry wraps his arms tightly around the vampire. 

His body wracks with his sobs and he feels Louis move so that Harry is leaning against him fully, one arm wrapped around Harry’s waist and the other around his upper back, Louis’ hand cupping the back of Harry’s head.

“It’s okay,” Louis shushes him softly. “Let it out, let it out.”

Harry doesn’t know how long they stay like that, with him clinging to the vampire while he soaks the front of Louis’ shirt with his tears and Louis holding him together, but by the time he pulls away, his head aches and his eyes feel swollen.

Louis brushes away a few stray tears and smiles softly at him. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

 

An hour later, Harry is back on the outside porch, blanket over his lap, and a cup of tea with a warm brownie at his side. Louis had left him in the bathroom to shower off while he went to handle more of the logistics of Finn being captured. Harry supposes the capture of a vampire involved in a human trading ring would make him pretty busy.

Louis finds Harry on the porch later that night. The vampire doesn’t say anything but leans against the railing and tucks his hands in his pockets.

“So,” Louis starts to get Harry’s attention, as if he didn’t already have it. “I’m sure you must be feeling a lot right now but I wanted to go ahead and tell you that you are under no obligation to stay here. You can go wherever you want and I’ll be more than happy to help you. But you can stay too, if you want to.”

Harry nods in appreciation of the offer and takes a sip of his tea while he thinks about his options. The thought of leaving had already crossed his mind while he was showering. Now would be the best time to have a fresh start.  He could go somewhere that could help him with the trauma that he’s been through. He could go to new places and carve a place in this world for himself. 

But how could he leave the home he’s found here? With Niall, Liam, and Louis? Especially Louis.

“You don’t have to tell me right now or even tomorrow, Louis says. “The offer will always be there and if you do leave,” Louis clears his thought and brushes his fringe off of his forehead. “If you do leave, you are always welcome here, no matter what.”

“Thank you,” Harry says, looking down at his fingers because he truly doesn’t know what else there is to say. Doesn’t really know how to properly think Louis for everything he has done for him. From helping him adjust to being away from the toxic environment he was in with Finn to having Perrie come over so he could talk to someone properly about his trauma and help show him more of the world he thought he knew.

 

The next day, Harry walks into Louis’ office like he usually does and Louis looks up with a somber expression as if he already knew what Harry was going to say.

“I-I think I want to leave,” Harry tells the vampire, lingering in the doorway. “And make a life for myself. I’m,” he takes a deep breath and tries to hold back tears. “I’m so grateful for what you, Zayn, Liam, and Niall have done for me all these months. You have saved my life in more ways than you will know. But I feel like I need to do this.” A few stray tears fall as silence envelopes the room.

Louis nods his head and sighs. For a moment, Harry thinks Louis will refuse to let him go, will pull out some sort of contract that says Harry’s been Louis’ feeder all this time but he knows that’s not true. Louis would never do something like that to him. Louis who has shown him an abundance of patience and kindness throughout the time Harry has been in his home.

Louis finally answers. “Okay.”


	2. Part Two

Five years later…

 

_Harry_

Harry wakes up to the annoying sound of his alarm. He groans as he rolls over and he slaps his hand down to silence the offending object. He sighs as stares up at the popcorn ceiling of his flat and mentally goes over what all he needs to do today. Re-stocking the newest shipment of books, grocery shopping, and meeting up with Perrie.

He doesn’t know where he would be without Perrie and the other staff at the therapy center. They helped him get to the point he’s at today, where he feels comfortable in society. He’s found his place in the world.

_Louis helped you too._ A voice in the back of his mind reminds him.

That’s one problem. 

He hasn’t talk to Louis that much since he left the ginormous home. Louis did fund his move, which included buying him a flat that was the right mix of being near the city while also giving Harry the privacy he needed. He didn’t want to be thrust back into society after being in Finn’s basement for his childhood. Harry still craves the outdoors and quiet places and the home he’s in gives him that.

Harry still meets with Liam occasionally to catch up every once in a while. In fact, Liam’s planning on coming over for a movie night. Just Liam though as Niall is spending more time with Shawn and Louis is doing whatever Louis did before Harry came into the house.

Harry rolls out of bed and quickly takes a shower in the ensuite. It’s the dead of summer, a rather hot one too, so he dresses in shorts and button up, short sleeved shirt.

It’s only a quick ride on the tube to the bookstore but Harry has to put headphones on and turn on his relax playlist to help him calm down. Tight spaces with too many people is still a big no-no for him. But the playlist helps him focus on something other than the mass of people getting on and off.

He tries not to think about the multiple vampires that must be around him because while he has gotten use to being around them often and he’s no longer terrified that he’s going to be randomly attacked and fed from, the gut instinct to find and corner and make sure no one comes near him is an old habit that’s difficult to break.

Soon he’s walking into the bookstore and giving a quick pet to Glenda, one of the bookstore’s adopted orange tabby cat, who’s relaxing in the front window. Her sister, Elphaba, a pure black cat, is probably wandering around the stacks and, hopefully, not causing any trouble.

“Ah, there you are Harry,” Tabitha says peeking around the stack of books in her arms. Tabitha is the owner of The Yellow Book Road and is extremely friendly as well as accommodating of Harry and his anxieties. She had a daughter who was in an abusive relationship and understands how Harry has his good and bad days sometimes. Thankfully, his bad days have been getting fewer and fewer. “Can you help me with this, dear?” 

Harry hurries over and takes a few of the books from the top of the pile and sets them on the front counter. He looks over some of the titles, not quite recognizing them. “Are these from that order we just got in?"

Tabitha brushes some of her grey hair back behind her ears. “Yeah, thought I’d get started on it.”

“You knew I was coming in,” he reaches around her and retrieves the list of books from the order form so he could go ahead and start pricing them into their system. “I’m suppose to do all the heavy lifting around here. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

Tabitha, ever the hardheaded woman, rolls her eyes and wanders to the back. “I’m not that delicate, lovie.”

Harry chuckles knowing that nothing he could say would deter his boss and gets to work.

A few hours and many boxes of books later, Harry leaves the shop for his lunch break. The side street the store is on, while quaint, has plenty of spots for a quite bite to eat. He goes to one of his favorites and gets in line. There are a few people in front of him and he gets out his phone to pass the time.

There’s a few notifications, a snapchat from Liam, some alerts from instagram, and a message from Perrie reminding him to bring a batch of cookies to the next meeting he has with her later on in the week. He shoots off a text to Perrie and opens the snap from Liam. 

It’s of Louis standing in front a blender with a purple mixture all over his upper body, hair, and on some of the cabinets. Liam had captioned it with a few cry laughing emojis and a warmth comes over Harry as he grins down at his screen.

He won’t lie. He misses Louis. He misses talking to him, he misses sitting by the fireplace while Louis works. He misses hearing Louis talk on the phone about whatever problem he was trying to solve. He misses seeing the corners of Louis’ eyes crinkle when he smiles.

He misses Louis.

But how does he go about getting back in contact with him? He could easily get Louis’ number from Liam but what would he even say? _Hi, I use to live in your home because I was kidnapped by the head of a human trading ring when I was younger and you had to take care of me after I was rescued and asking for death? I kinda like you, wanna make out?_ No. He couldn’t. 

The dreams don’t help either. He’s been having dreams of him and Louis. Nothing scandalous but dreams about he and Louis doing random things. Lying on a bed talking, cuddling on a couch, laying in the sun while Louis runs his fingers through Harry’s hair the way he likes. Domestic stuff. Soft stuff. Each time he’s woken up reaching for the other side of the bed and craving Louis’ touch only to fully wake up disappointed.

He has no idea what it could mean and he hasn’t told anyone about it. 

The lines moves up a little bit and he snaps a random picture of his feet and floor sending back an ‘lol’ to Liam. He still hasn’t gotten the hang of social media yet. 

The couple just in front of him draws his eye when he sees the man lean down to nip at the girl’s throat. She pushes him away with a giggle but he keeps his arms wrapped around her waist. 

“Stop,” she says without any heat behind her voice. “Let me eat something before you go all Dracula on me."

“But _I’m_ hungry,” the man says and flashes his fangs at her.

The girl brushes off the man and steps up to the counter to place her order but Harry freezes as his heart starts to beat faster. It’s been a long time since he’s seen fangs of a vampire.

“Are you going to move forward or not?” Someone behind him says frustratedly. 

The vampire front of him turns around when he hears Harry’s rapid heartbeat. “You okay, mate?” He asks and the woman turns to look at him too.

Harry can hear the whooshing of his heart in his ears and he starts to feel panic settling in his chest. 

A hand on his elbow guides him over to a seat and gently pushes him to sit. A glass of orange juice is placed in his hand. 

“Just breathe, dear,” the woman says and urges him to drink.

It takes a few minutes for him to fully calm down. He’s drunk half the glass of juice by then. The couple that was in front of him in line are now sitting beside of him. The woman is rubbing his back in soothing motions. 

“You alright?” The woman asks once he’s breathing has settled.

Harry nods, unsure of using his voice. 

“I’m sorry if Ryan scared you. I keep telling him to stop flashing his fangs all the time,” she says, glaring at the vampire sitting behind her.

“It-it’s okay,” Harry says, setting the glass on the table.

“Are you sure? You still look a little pale?” The vampire asks with a concern expression.

Harry jerkily nods rubs his hands over the tops of his thighs. “Yeah, I’ll be okay. Thank you for helping me.”

The woman gives him a soft smile. “Of course, dear. I know seeing vampire fangs aren’t for everyone.” 

_You have no idea_. Harry thinks and gets up, awkwardly waving bye to the couple, and quickly leaving the cafe. He feels the other patrons stare at him as he leaves and he tries not to look up. 

He hurries back to the bookstore and Tabitha looks up when he enters and then to the clock behind her. “Everything alright, Harry?”

“Yeah,” he says and goes to the back of the store to finish unboxing.

Tabitha follows him back. “Did you even eat lunch?”

Harry winces and shakes his head no but doesn’t elaborate. 

Tabitha sighs and turns to the right towards the break room. He hears her open the fridge and her footsteps back into the storage room. “Here,” she hands him a container of salad and pushes him to the break room. “I can’t have you passing out on me.”

“I’m not going to pass out if I miss one meal.” He goes to hand it back. “And I can’t take your lunch.”

She waves him off. “Nonsense, I’ve had salad all week.” She pulls out a bottle of water and places it in front of him. “Plus, I want to try out that new sandwich shop a few streets over.”

Harry smiles shyly down at his lunch. “Thank you."

“Not a problem, lovie,” she says, ruffling his hair as she heads back out to the front of the shop.

While he’s eating, he opens his phone to place an order for groceries. After what happened in the cafe, he doesn’t feel like being out in public anymore than he absolutely has to. He can go an extra day without new groceries and he can order a takeaway for him and Liam tonight.

As he eats, Elphaba comes wandering in and curls around his ankles. He drops a hand for her to bump her head against, and he hears her start to purr as he scratches her head. He’s still a little delicate from seeing the vampire drop his fangs out in public so casually. It’s not like it’s a taboo thing— he’s seen vampires feed in corners of restaurants— but it took him completely off guard today.

 

Harry texts Perrie as soon as he gets home. He’s still feeling sensitive despite the cuddles from Elphaba and Tabitha’s reassuring words. But Perrie has been his therapist for the past five years for a reason. She knows him almost better than he does himself.

_How bad was it?_ She texts back after he sent her a long message retelling of the event. 

_I came straight home instead of going to the store because I’m afraid I’ll see it again._

He lays his phone on the kitchen island and watches as the grey dots pop up as Perrie types out her response. They disappear before her name and picture flashes across the screen and the sudden vibration from the call makes Harry jolt back. 

“Yeah?” He asks, skipping the greeting.

“Why do you think you were scared?” Perrie asks. “You haven’t had a moment like that in a long time.”

“I don’t know,” he places the phone between his shoulder and his ear as he starts to clean up his dishes from breakfast. “I think, maybe it was because they were so close to me? In the past, the vampire has been far enough away that I could easily look away. But with them, there were right there.”

Perrie hums and he hears her flip through papers, more in likely finding his file so she could make notes on their conversation for future record. “Other than getting lightheaded, did anything else happen?”

“No.”

“You didn’t try to cover your neck or pinch yourself?”

“No, just sort of got lightheaded and the woman led me over to a table and sat with me while I had some juice.”

“Oh,” Perrie says with a surprised tone. “And you didn’t feel the need to do anything like you used to?

Harry shakes his head and answers no.

“Wow, that’s really good, Harry,” Perrie says, pleased. “But we still need to figure out why being that close triggered you and what you can do in case it happens again and the couple isn’t as accommodating as the one today.”

Harry hangs up after he and Perrie work out a time for him to come over to the clinic to talk more with her one on one. 

He finishes tidying his flat, not that it needed much done, and orders a takeaway. It comes before Liam does so Harry sends him a snap of the food. Liam sends back a thumbs up followed by ‘ _be there shortly!_ ’. 

When he does get to Harry’s flat, there’s a concerned expression on his face after he and Harry hug. “What happened?”

Harry shrugs and busies himself with getting silverware and taking the food to the couch. “What makes you think something happened?”

Liam raises an eyebrow but joins Harry. “Because I know you and I know that you were planning on cooking tonight, like you do the majority of the time I come over.”

Harry doesn’t say anything and divvies out the boxes between he and Liam. “There was a small incident, not even a incident but a uh…”

“Incident?”

Harry winces. “Er, yeah."

“What happened, H?” Liam asks, placing a reassuring hand on Harry’s shoulder. 

“There was a vamp-human couple in line at the cafe I go to sometimes for lunch and,” he clears his throat and keeps his eyes on the food box in his hands. “The vamp flashed his fangs and I just… freaked out?”

“Freaked out how?” Liam asks gently.

Harry takes a deep breath and explains.

Liam squeezes his shoulder once before he goes to grab his own takeaway boxes and starts digging in. “Well, it seems like you’re getting better. I know it’s be a long time since everything has happened but I hope you know how far you’ve come.”

Harry flicks on the tv, pulling up Netflix, brings up a random movie, and leans back into the cushions. “I guess I have.”

“Harry,” Liam says exasperatedly. “You have come a long way. Don’t sell yourself short on the progress you’ve made.” He reaches over and pulls Harry into his side. “I’m proud of you, mate.”

“Thanks, Liam,” Harry says smiling slightly. He knows he’s progressed from where he was when he first woke up in Louis’ home. But the attention to it makes him squirmy. Like, congrats on being a normal human being. It’s a weird compliment to have.

They’re beginning the second movie of the night when Liam’s phone buzzes on the coffee table. Harry can’t help but peek at the screen and sees Louis’ name before Liam snatches it up.

“Sorry,” Liam murmurs and quickly types out a response. 

Harry focuses back on the movie, a Marvel film he’s seen several times before. 

Liam’s phone buzzes again and Liam cures softly and clicks off the sound. 

“So, uh, Louis wants to know if you would want to come to a barbecue this Sunday?” Liam asks hesitantly.

“Louis?”

“Er yeah, he’s been asking about you.”

“Really?” Harry asks, shocked, movie completely forgotten now. Louis’ asking about him?

“Yeah, he usually asks after I get back from seeing you.”

“Really?”

Liam chuckles. “Of course, he cares about you. Won’t stop bugging me with questions, if I’m honest.”

“Wow,” Harry says, still shocked that Louis is still there caring for him. Not like Harry thought that the moment he left Louis’ home, Louis would stop worrying about him but still, it was really nice to hear.

“So will you come?”

“Um, yeah I can. Do I need to bring anything?”

Liam shakes his head and finally puts his phone down. “Nah, just yourself.”

 

Four days later, Harry finds himself in the passenger seat of Liam’s car headed down the long driveway towards Louis’ home. He’s only been down this road twice, once he was unconscious, and the other when he was leaving. He’s still in shock over how long it is. It honestly feels like he’s headed towards another world. There are trees all around— they drive over a bridge and a waterfall, and each curve of the road brings a new sight until they finally reach the gates.

Liam punches in a code and the gates swing open to reveal the mansion to the right. The sight still takes Harry’s breath away as he gazes upon the home. He still can’t believe Louis lives in such a place. That he lived there for almost a year.

Harry’s hands flutter over his shirt, trying to straighten it out. He has no idea why he’s nervous. It’s a small cook-out with Louis, Niall, Shawn, and Liam. No biggie. No sweat. It’s casual. But yet this is Louis. He hasn’t seen Louis in years and suddenly he’s aware of how he looks. He’s cut his hair shorter, he’s gained more muscle, and feels steadier physically and emotionally. 

Liam parks the car and the two get out.

“Over here!” 

Harry looks over to the courtyard and sees Niall waving them over, tongs in his hand. He grins as he and Liam start walking over.

“Good to see you, mate,” Niall greets, pulling Harry in for a hug.

Harry grins and mentally rejoices that he doesn’t feel the need to jerk back. “You too, is there anything I can help with? This all looks great!” The grill is going, and the smell of chicken and burgers cooking fills the air.

“Nope, Shawn’s helping me out here,” Niall gestures over his shoulder to a brunette vamp with a bright smile. “But Louis might need help getting the drinks in order.”

“Oh,” Harry says, nodding. “Okay.”

“And Liam needs to stay here,” Niall adds suddenly when Liam starts to follow Harry into the house.

“Are you sure? I could go help-” Liam starts, pointing over his shoulder.

“Nope. Need you here to man the...” Niall looks around behind him. 

“The veggies!” Shawn says, pointing to a plate of already chopped and skewered vegetables. 

“Yes! The veggies!” Niall says with an equally bright smile. “You need to make sure the bugs don’t get to them.”

“Erm. Okay?”

Hesitantly, Harry heads into the home, and looks around to see if anything has changed since he was here last. Things looks relatively the same, some of the pictures on the walls have changed, but the overall decor hasn’t. As he nears the kitchen, he hears soft humming and his lips turn up at the corners when he peeks in.

Louis is rummaging around in the fridge and there’s a set of glasses waiting on the island. Harry stifles a laugh as Louis starts dancing, moving his hips. 

“Oh,” Louis says surprised, when he turns around and see Harry standing there. “Hi, Harry.” His voice just as soft as he remembers. Louis’ surprised expression melts into a soft smile. “Erm, how long have you been standing there?”

“Not that long,” Harry says, stepping fully into the kitchen. “Just got here a few minutes ago.”

“Oh, good!” Louis sets out a few drinks on the counter. “How’ve you been?”

“Good,” Harry says with a smirk.

“What’s that face for?”

Harry’s smirk deepens and he feels his dimple sink in. “Liam told me that you’ve been asking about me recently.”

Louis’ cheeks pink up slightly. “Of course, I still care about you, H. Liam said you’re doing well at the bookstore and with Perrie?”

Harry nods and fiddles with his rings, just to give him something to do. “It’s a little weird stepping back into society after being away from it for so long. It wasn’t easy for those first few months, but Perrie helped me a lot. I still text her for things and I go to the clinic every once in a while. And the job at the bookstore is great.”

“They’ve been able to help you?”

“I have good days and bad days like everyone else, I think.”

“Yeah,” Louis trails off and Harry bites lip. “Can I?” Louis steps closer, one arm slightly raised.

Harry nods and Louis comes over and wraps him up in a hug. Harry sinks into it, wrapping his arms around Louis’ waist, and leaning down to rest his head in the crook of Louis’ shoulder. This is exactly what he needed. While he was living here, the others never really touched him because they knew Harry needed his space. But it’s almost like Louis sensed Harry needed this, needed to be held.

“Missed you, H.” Louis says softly, his breath tickling Harry’s hair and for a moment Harry is tempted to turn his head for a kiss. Instead, he breathes in the scent of Louis and tries very hard not to think about his dreams and how it feels like his dreams are coming true.

“Me too,” Harry whispers.

Louis steps back after a moment but keeps one hand in Harry’s hair. “I knew your hair would look good at this length.” He runs his hand over the sides, shorter than they were last he was here.

“Thought it was time for a change,” Harry says but then freezes. How did Louis know about his short hair? Maybe Liam sent him a picture. “Um, Niall said you needed help in here?”

Louis stares for just a moment, slight panic on his face. “Oh! Yeah, you could help me bring some things out? I think Niall said the food would be ready soon.”

“I can do that,” he says with a smile and starts placing the glasses on a tray. 

“How about I carry the tray and you get the fruit from the fridge?”

“What? Afraid I’ll drop it?” Harry teases as he opens the fridge and spies a couple bowls of chopped fruit.

“Course not, darling.”

Harry has to bite back a smile at the pet name. It’s not like Louis hasn’t call him that before but it sends a spark down his spine all the same.

When they get outside, Liam is setting the table under the pergola and Niall is taking the burgers off the grill. The five of them sit down to eat with Harry sitting next to Louis. The shade from there pergola helps cool them down and there’s a breeze that comes through every once in a while.

The food is delicious, as Harry is used to when Niall cooks. The vampire is obviously very fond of Shawn if his expression and the way Niall scoots close to Shawn is anything to go by.

“They still haven’t gotten together,” Louis leans over to whisper when he catches Harry staring at the pair.

“Seriously? With that tension between them?”

“And what would you know about tension, H?” Louis teases.

Harry chuckles. “I have seen just about every rom com that’s out there. I’m well versed in tension and those two,” he leans his head towards the vampire couple. “I’m surprised they haven’t started going at it already.”

Louis snorts, choking only slightly on his drink which neither Shawn nor Niall notice since they’re too wrapped up in their own conversation and making heart eyes at one another. “Liam and I are just about ready to lock them up in a closet just to get it over with.”

From across the table, Liam shakes his head with wides eyes. “It is getting a bit old.”

“What’s getting old?” Niall asks.

“Just you,” Louis shoots back.

“Oi! I age like a fine wine.”

The rest of lunch goes by like any other meal does, with Niall and Louis talking sports and egging each other on, and Harry watching on silently. 

“So,” Louis says as they clean up and start taking dishes to the kitchen. “Anyone up for a dip in the pool?”

Niall, Shawn, and Liam agree but Harry furrows his brows in confusion. “Did you get a pool put in?”

“Oh,” Louis says, looking up from putting the leftovers in the fridge. “No, there’s an indoor pool in the basement. I guess I never showed you that when you were here.”

“Seriously? That’s sick! But I don’t have a swim suit.” 

“You can borrow one of mine.” 

Harry grins. “That’d be great.”

The pool, as it turns out, is actually next to the movie theater, and has dressing rooms with individual showers right off of it. Not for the first time, Harry wonders how Louis has gotten all this money to do all of this. But he supposed being alive for centuries has its perks. 

The pool is heated and there are speakers set up in the walls. Louis taps a few buttons on a screen set into the wall and music filters in. 

“Out of the way!” Niall hollers and runs past them and cannonballs into the pool, water splashing up to where Louis and Harry are. 

Shawn and Liam quickly follow, Liam with a pool noodle in hand.

“Seems like they have the best idea,” Louis says and goes over to the far left wall where a diving board is set up. Louis executes a perfect dive and comes back up, flicking his head back as he does. “C’mon, Haz!”

Harry tries not to stare too hard at Louis’ bare chest and his toned arms but it’s difficult when Louis is right there looking like _that_. “Think I’ll use the stairs.” He goes to the right and gingerly gets in, being mindful of the white subway tile that lines the floor and leads into the pool. It’s been a long time since he’s been swimming and he sits on the steps. Thankfully, the pool is heated so he doesn’t have to worry about it being too chilly. 

“You okay, Harry?” Louis asks, swimming over and joining him on the step above him. 

Harry nods and turns so he can lean back against the wall. “Yeah, still full from lunch. It’s nice to just relax a bit.”

Louis mirrors his position, turning to look over where Liam is blowing on one end of the noodle to shoot water at Niall and Shawn. “I use to come down here all the time to swim laps but work has been getting in the way recently.”

“Like what?”

“Well,” Louis sighs deeply. “I feel like the paperwork is never ending. There’s always someone somewhere needing advice on something. It gets very tiring after a while.” 

“Why don’t you stop?” Harry offers. “Aren’t you able to do that?"

Louis huffs out a laugh. “I suppose I do."

“You should. Even immortals need a day off every now and then.” 

“Maybe I’ll find a reason to take a day,” Louis murmurs just loud enough for Harry to hear and it makes Harry smile. 

_He’s talking about you._ The voice in the back of his head teases and Harry tries and fails to picture the two of them traveling the world. Not an email or phone call in sight for Louis. 

Harry clears his throat and looks out the others. “I guess we should join them.”

They decide to play Marco Polo at Liam’s insistence but Louis, being a vampire who doesn’t have to breathe, used it as an opportunity to stay under the water as long as possible before coming up to grab Liam’s ankle and yank him under the water. Needless to say, Liam wasn’t very keen on continuing the game.

Instead, Louis gets out of the pool and goes to a closet to get a volleyball and net. They split up with Niall and Shawn as one team and Harry and Louis as the other with Liam as the referee. To make it fair, they make the two vampires tread water so Harry can stand in the shallow end of the pool. 

Harry doesn’t really know the rules and usually lets Louis go for the ball since he can get there faster, but Louis celebrates with him when Liam deems them the winners. 

“Dream team right here!” Louis says coming over and hugs Harry. He tries very hard not to think about a half naked and wet Louis hugging him. 

As they reluctantly get out of the pool and head to the showers, Harry lingers by his own room. “I guess I’ll have Liam take me back after this.”

Louis walks over to him from where he was getting ready to head into his dressing room. “Are you sure? You could stay the night if you’d like. I can get your old room made up.”

“I’ll-uh think about it.”

“Okay,” Louis says softly, brushing his fingers over Harry’s forearm as if he just had to touch him. 

The shower is fully stocked with hair products and soap and it feels good to wash the chlorine out of his hair. He dresses in clothes Louis gave him and heads back up the winding staircase to wait on the others in the living room just off the porch.

He walks over to the windows and peaks out at the view. It doesn’t look too different than the last time he saw it but he knows it must have. 

Despite it being early, the sky is beginning to darken and he sees dark clouds rolling in across the trees. A lightning bolt flashes down in a loud crack that makes Harry jump back from the window. 

A hand on his back helps steady him. “Looks like a storm is coming in. You might have to stay the night after all.” 

Harry looks back at Louis and relaxes into his touch. “One on condition.”

“And what’s that?” Louis asks with a small smile. 

“You don’t work tomorrow.”

“What do you suggest I do instead?” 

“I guess you’ll have to find something for us to do,” Harry says as the rain starts falling, hitting against the windowpane. 

“Deal.” 

 

While the storm rages on outside, Louis and Harry hide out in his old room. Harry helps Louis make the bed and draws the drapes to help muffle the thunder. 

Instead of sitting at the bay window, they lay on the bed, Harry leaning against the headboard and Louis opposite of him. 

“So, Harold.”

“Louis.”

“How do you feel about scuba diving?”

Harry bursts into giggles and Louis quickly follows. “Is that what we’re doing tomorrow?”

“No, just wanted to see you laugh. And to see these little beauties,” Louis leans forward and pokes Harry’s dimple. “You seem so much lighter in how you carry yourself now. It’s really good to see.”

Harry looks down at his lap, fiddling with the edge of the blanket. “Yeah, I feel better. Time has definitely helped heal old wounds. Can I confess something to you?”

“Always.”

Harry bites his lips and huffs out a nervous laugh. “I, uh, never realized how much I would miss all of this when I left.” He looks around the room, taking in the first place he found solace after everything happened to him. “And…I never imagined how much I would miss you. Just—just being around you. I’m really glad I let Liam talk me into coming here.”

He finally looks over to Louis and his heart stutters when he sees Louis expression full of fondness. “I missed you too, darling.”

 

_Louis_

The next morning, Louis wakes up still in his clothes from the night before. His neck aches from where he had it resting on the crook of his arms through the night. It’s still raining outside if the sound of it hitting the roof is anything to consider. But it doesn’t sound as violent as it did the night before. 

He leans up on his forearms and looks to the head of the bed. Harry’s still asleep there, mouth hanging open and face completely relaxed. 

It warms his still heart to see the human laying there. To see Harry laying there back in his home and back where Louis can hear the steady beating of his heart. After Harry’s confession, to which it took everything in Louis not to explode in excitement, they talked for most of the night simply catching up with one another. Louis got to here about Harry working at the bookstore, about his boss, about his visits and progress with Perrie.

A month after Finn was captured, Louis personally saw to his execution, after he was able to get Finn to spill about the others within the human trading ring. It was officially shut down a few months after but he and Zayn still keep an eye out in case it were to happen again.

Without jostling the bed, Louis gets up and heads down to the kitchen, hoping he can whip up some breakfast before Harry wakes up. It’s something he would have done anyway but the dream he had the night before is definitely fueling his actions. He doesn’t know if it’s just because Harry is back in his life now but the dream was all about them being together. While nothing happened between the two of them in the dream, it felt as if they were together. The after effects of being loved and being in love still lingers with Louis as he starts to whisk eggs for a scramble.

It was something that Louis hadn’t experienced in a long time and he craves to feel it again with Harry specifically. 

Not long after he sets the toaster on, he hears Niall come wandering down the stairs in boxers and hair looking a mess. “What are you doing up so early?”

Before Louis can answer, he sees Niall tilt his head to the side. “Is Harry still here?”

Louis mentally curses the fact that Niall is a vampire and thus also has excellent hearing. “Uh, yeah we ended up talking and I guess we fell asleep like that.”

Niall smirks and Louis rolls his eyes and prepares for whatever Niall is going to say. “Oh, really? And now you’re making him breakfast?”

“It’s just a bit of brekkie, Niall. It’s not like I’m having dre-” Louis quickly stops himself and turns to fully focus on not burning the eggs.

“Having what?”

“Nothing.”

He sees Niall lean up against the counter next to him. “No, c’mon out with it. You were far too quick with that answer for it be ‘nothing’.”

“I could kill you, know you.”

Niall scoffs. “As if. You know you’re about as intimidating as a fluffy newborn kitten.”

“Oi!”

“Just finish your sentence, Lou."

Louis sighs and scoops the eggs onto two plates and makes it to the toaster in time for the toast to pop out. “I’ve been having dreams about Harry. About the two of us being together.” When he sees Niall grimace and he throws a cube of fruit at him. “Not like that. Like…” He shuffles his feet not really sure how to explain it all. “We’re just doing the most random seemingly boring stuff ever. Sitting underneath a tree where he’s leaning against my chest. And we’re watching the clouds. I think we’re talking in them but I don’t know what we’re saying. All I feel is this all consuming feeling of love for him. And…” He shakes his head and turns back the food, wondering if Harry would want a cuppa or juice to go with his breakfast.

“And what?” Niall asks, all sense of humor gone from his tone.

“And,” Louis has to stop because he feels ashamed for feeling like this, for wanting this. “I have this almost uncontrollable urge to bite him, to feed from him. I’ve never felt this type of hunger before and it scares the shit of out me because I know he doesn’t want that. He almost had a full out panic attack the other day when he saw a vamp’s fangs.”

Niall looks at him with sympathy and comes over to crush Louis in a hug. Louis feels the waves of love and support Niall is obviously sending him and Louis is so grateful to have a friend like him. Sure Niall can be an annoying little shit some of the time but moments like this makes Louis feel lucky.

They separate and Niall’s emotions flip from sympathetic to concern.“Did you feel that when he was here?”

“Not at all. Maybe I was too focused on making sure he was comfortable?”

“So, when did it start?”

Louis exhales. “I guess soon after he left?”

Niall raises his eyebrows in surprise. “You’ve felt this way for five years? Dreams and everything.”

“Yeah,” Louis says hesitantly. “But I don’t feel like I’ll pounce any second. I feel calmer when I’m around him.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Try being in my head.”

The sound of sheets rustling coming from Harry’s room stops the conversation. Louis looks in the direction of the noise and can imagine Harry waking up and looking around to try to find Louis. He wonders what the human looks like first thing in the morning and if it’s as good as it seems in his dreams.

“Oh, geez,” Niall says, jolting Louis and making him turn his head towards the other vampire. 

“What?” 

“If you have _that_ look on your face when you’re thinking about him, then you’re in deep, mate,” he says before going over to the fridge.

“Says the vamp who can’t tell his feelings to the bloke he’s been flirting with for the better part of a decade,” Louis shoots back and grabs the tray of food for him and Harry.

He makes it up the stairs and into Harry’s room without dropping any of the food. When he enters, Harry is still waking up, rubbing his eyes and making Louis’ heart clinch.

“Morning, pet,” Louis greets softly. 

Harry raises himself up to a more sitting position and leans up against the headboard. “Morning,” he says, his voice slightly gruff. Harry yawns and squints against the light spilling in from the hallway. “What’s that?”

Louis closes the door behind him with his foot and comes over to set the tray of food on the bed. “Made some breakfast.” He suddenly feels shy. Maybe Harry just wanted to wake up and leave. Maybe the only reason he stayed the night was because Liam didn’t want to drive in the storm.

“Looks perfect,” Harry leans over to pull his plate into his lap. He takes a bit of the eggs and moans. “Soh gah.”

Louis giggles and joins him on the bed with his own plate. “I’m not too bad of a cook. Took me awhile to learn how not to burn down the kitchen.”

“A few centuries?”

Louis gasps dramatically holding a hand to his chest. “Harold! Are you implying I’m old?”

“Not at all,” Harry says, smirking. “Just that it took a long time to learn how to cook.”

“Wow, I am just being attacked at all sides here aren’t I?”

Harry smiles brightly at him. “‘fraid so.”

They finish their meal and Louis leaves so Harry can freshen up. He hadn’t really thought about what they could do today. Anything outside is a definite no unless Louis wants to break out the raincoats and wellies, which he doesn’t. They’ve already gone swimming and movies might be too cliche. He definitely won’t take Harry to the shooting range. Then an idea comes to him.

 

 

_Harry_

Harry finds Louis in his office a little later. The vampire is leaning over his desk, typing something out on his laptop.

“I thought you said you wouldn’t work today.”

Louis looks up with a grimace. “Sorry, H. Had to send off one last email.”

Harry walks over to the couch by the fireplace and collapses on it. “I guess I’ll forgive you just this once.”

“Oh yeah?”

“What are we doing today?”

“Well,” Louis starts off, walking around his desk and joining him on the couch. “Thought you might like to see the roof.”

“The roof?” Harry gives him a doubtful look. “You do realize it’s still raining right?” He looks over to the windows to confirm that, yes, it’s still pouring outside.

“Do you trust me?” Louis offers a hand and Harry looks at it warily. 

He does trust Louis, and not just in a silly situation like this. He trusts Louis not to hurt him or put him in situations where we could get hurt. Even when he was here after being with Finn, he knew deep down that Louis wouldn’t hurt him. Even then he was ready to throw himself head first into Louis.

He places his hand gingerly into Louis’. “Of course.”

Louis tries to bite back a smile but fails as his face lights up. He squeezes Harry’s hand once before pulling him off the couch and over to the spiral staircase to the right of the fireplace. It was one place Harry hadn’t really ventured to when he was here. He mainly picked books from the bottom shelves so he glances around at the books up here. 

He notices most are in another language and he must have pulled a face because Louis giggles under his breath. “Something wrong, H?”

Harry shakes his head. “I guess I never thought that you would know more than one language, but it makes sense with you being alive for so long.”

“Does that impress you?”

Harry shrugs. “Eh.”

“Si seulement tu savais ce que je pourrais te dire qui te ferait tourner la tête.” ( _If you only knew the things I could say to you that would make your head spin_.)

“What did you say?”

“Я хочу сказать вам много вещей, но я знаю, что вы не готовы их услышать.”( _I want to say a lot of things to you but I know you’re not ready to hear them._ )

“Lou,” Harry pouts. “That’s not fair.”

Louis smirks. “È davvero divertente suscitare l'interesse di te. Sei adorabile quando stai versando. Sono molto tentato di rubare un bacio.” ( _It’s really fun to get a rise out of you. You look adorable when you’re pouting. I’m very tempted to steal a kiss._ )

Harry’s pout deepens and he starts to pull away from Louis but the vampire wraps an arm around his waist. “Sorry, pet. It’s too fun teasing you like that.”

“Should I have also made you promise that you would speak a language I understand too?”

Louis only chuckles and continues to the wall far right side of the room. He lets go of Harry’s hand and searches the stacks. Just as Harry starts to ask what books he’s looking for, Louis pulls one forward and he hears a clink before a small door opens from the bookcase. He stands there shocked as a passageway is revealed, lights along the walls illuminating the path. 

“There are secret passageways here?” Harry asks shocked.

“Not many,” Louis says taking Harry’s hand in his again and pulling him forward. “But I’ve always liked them and when I started designing the plans for this house, I decided on a whim to put some in.”

“Erm, there aren’t spiders or mice in here… right?”

Louis looks back amused. “Scared, darling?"

“Only slightly.”

Louis smiles and tugs him closer. “Don’t worry, the only creature in here is me and I promise not to bite.”

Harry ducks his head down and blushes. The thought of Louis biting him doesn’t scare him like he thought it would. And he definitely doesn’t react like he did the other day in the cafe when he saw the vamp flash his fangs at his human companion. In fact, a small part of Harry _wants_ Louis to bite him but he pushes that want very far to the corners of his mind.

The walls of the passageway are brick and surprisingly not dusty or full of cobwebs like he expected. 

“I, uh hope you’re not claustrophobic,” Louis says and Harry can hear the nervousness in his voice so he squeezes his hand to try to reassure the vampire.

“I’m not,” he says, keeping his voice low, feeling the need to whisper in a space like this. They follow the path, going up a small flight of stairs before getting to another door. 

“Here we are.” Louis lets go of his hand and opens the door, it creaks as he does so and he peaks around the vampire to look ahead. The room in front of them is dark and the sound of rain is much louder from here.

“Where is _here_?” They step fully into the room and the light from the hall casts shadows on boxes. 

“Hold on,” Louis says and Harry feels him move away from him for a split second before lights flicker on.

Harry squints against the lights until his eyes adjust to the sudden brightness before he looks around and takes in the space. There are boxes stacked up along the walls like a typical attic, cobwebs in the rafter, and a musty smell. The room is quite large but not as big as he’d expect for a vampire to have. Though, he’s not really sure how much stuff Louis would have saved over the years.

Harry meanders around the boxes, feeling Louis’ eyes on him as he does so. He traces the writing on the boxes and stops at one that doesn’t have anything written on it.

“What’s in here?” He asks, looking over his shoulder to find Louis.

The vampire comes over and rests a hand on the small of Harry’s back. “Can’t remember, to be quite honest.” He brings the box down to eye level and peels back the tape. “I tried organizing everything some time ago, but I guess I stopped.”

Inside the box are dozens of journals. Harry picks one up and flicks through it but groans when he sees the writing.

“What?”

He drops the journal back in the box. “It’s written in French, and here I thought I was going to get to read some juicy tidbits about your past.”

“You can’t know all of my secrets,” Louis teases and closes the box back up.

“Tell me one?” Harry pulls his best pouting face, his bottom lip puckered out and his eyes wide. 

Louis squints and scrunches his mouth. “Are you trying to guilt trip me?”

Without breaking his expression, Harry slowly nods and clasps his hands up in front of his chest.

Louis rolls his eyes but his smile peaks through. “Fine, if I must.” He then turns and goes further into the room bypassing stacks of boxes. 

Harry follows and watches as Louis pauses, holds a finger up and scans the ones in front of him.

“Aha,” the vampires says, and reaches up and opens a plastic container. He pulls out a gold crown adorned with jewels. “I used to be the prince of France.”

“Back when you were human?” Harry asks, so curious about Louis’ past. He carefully traces his fingers over the crown, mindful of its age.

“No, I had already been a vampire for a good while by that point,” Louis explains. “I had to fake my death since vampires were still a thing of myth and it was obvious I wasn’t aging.”

“That’s incredible.” It suddenly hits Harry that Louis has lived hundreds of lives so far and still has thousands to go. There is so much about the vampire that he doesn’t know and he wants to know all if it. “Do you remember being human?”

Louis thinks for a moment before shaking his head. “Not really, I wish I did.” He takes the crown back and places it gingerly back in it’s container. Louis takes his hand again and tugs him over to the left, past some boxes and over to the wall. “This is what I wanted to show you.” 

In front of them is a round window with a view from the back of the house. Only Harry can see for miles beyond them. 

“How much of this do you own?” Harry asks, looking back at the vampire with a smirk on his lips. “Everything the light touches?”

“Ha bloody ha,” Louis deadpans and pinches Harry’s side making him squeal and step away only to be brought back to Louis’ side. “But you’re not completely wrong. The estate extends farther back because this house is sort of in the middle of everything.”

“Prince Louis likes his privacy from his many suitors?” Harry asks.

Louis’ soft expression hardens slightly as he frowns and steps away. “Something like that.”

It’s obvious that Harry’s said something wrong and he reaches out for Louis’ hand. “What’s wrong?”

Louis lets Harry take his hand and sighs deeply. “It’s nothing.”

Now, Harry frowns sensing the lie. “No, it can’t be nothing. What did I do wrong?”

Louis brushes the sensitive skin of Harry’s wrist and Harry feels his worry lessen with Louis’ ability. “Just old memories, pet. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Harry looks down at their entwined hands. “Okay, as long as you’re okay.”

Louis gives him a soft smile. “I’m always perfect when I’m with you.”

His words make Harry blush and his heart stutter in his chest which is only slightly embarrassing since he knows Louis can very well hear every beat of his heart. “Good.”

 

_Louis_

Harry leaves shortly after lunch when the rain lightens up. Louis steals his phone and punches in his number before he let the human leave with Liam with the promise of sending him a text when he got home safely.

After they left, Louis immediately went to find Niall.

“I have a problem,” he announces into Niall’s sheets after he flings himself onto his friend’s bed. Which might have been a mistake given that he can hear Shawn taking a shower and Niall is lying shirtless under the covers.

“Is it that you still haven’t kiss Harry?”

Louis squawks and grabs Niall’s extra pillow to hit him with it. “Stop it! I’m being serious.”

“What is it Louis?” Niall asks exasperatedly.

“I took Harry up to the attic, to see from the top of the roof.”

“Very romantic.”

“And he said something that reminded me of Thomas.”

The silence that follows worries Louis so rests his head on his forearms and takes in Niall’s expression. He almost wish he didn’t because he sees and feels the sympathy coming from him.

“What did he say?”

“He called me Prince Louis. Which shouldn’t be a trigger to me but… the way he said it, his tone and everything took me right back to when Thomas was here.”

Niall reaches over to brush his fingers through Louis’ hair, the motion soothing the older vampire. “I’m sorry, bro. Did you tell him about Thomas?”

Louis shakes his head. “I don’t even know how I would bring it up. Besides, I don’t think I should unload my baggage onto him when he’s going through stuff way worse than mine.”

Niall huffs out a laugh. “You can’t compare your troubles to someone else’s. It doesn’t work like that.” It’s silent for a while after that, Louis letting the words soak in and taking full advantage of Niall’s soothing tactics. “You need to tell him eventually.”

“Yeah I know,” Louis says glumly.

 

_Harry_

Harry doesn’t stop thinking about Louis on the ride back to his flat. He already misses the vampire like crazy, even though they’ve only been apart for a few minutes. It’s like now he’s seen Louis again, he wants nothing more than to be with him all the time. If Liam notices, he doesn’t say anything. Soon, they’re pulling up to Harry’s building and he shoots off a text to Louis to let him know he’s back home. 

“Thanks for inviting me, Liam,” Harry says.

“No problem, mate.” Liam puts the car in park. “You’ll have to come over soon.”

“I really do have to thank you for being so understanding of everything these past few years.”

Liam gives him a warm smile, and his eyes squint into slits. “Anytime, H. I’m glad to see you’re doing well. Wanna get lunch sometime this week?”

“Yeah, I’ll let you know,” Harry says distractedly as his phone buzzes with a message from Louis.

_The couch in my office already misses you!_

He grins and types out a response. _You said you wouldn’t work today :(_

_My distraction left me._

He bites his lips at being called a distraction for Louis. 

“Uh, mate?”

Harry looks over to Liam and oh yeah, he’s still in Liam’s car. “Oh, sorry!"

Liam shakes his head and chuckles. “Tell Louis I’ll be back soon.”

Harry blushes and he gets out of the car and waves bye. Having Louis’ number might be dangerous.

 

 

The next morning, he decides to go the clinic to see Perrie. It’s been awhile since they’ve had a face to face meeting, and he might be overdue for one. It’s been a few weeks since he had that panic attack in the cafe, and he was waiting for some sort of blow back to that and it finally came last night in the form of a nightmare. Instead of dreaming about Finn he dreamt of _Louis_ attacking him, draining him, forcing his head to the side and taking what he wanted. 

Harry had woken up confused, hurt, and shaky. So, he needs Perrie to help sort his head out. He’s not afraid of Louis anymore. In fact, they’ve been texting quite frequently recently. He always finds something to send to the vampire and tries to get him to stop working so much. He really wants to tell Louis to stop working so he can pay attention to Harry but he thinks that might be a little bit too bold.

Nancy greets him when he walks in. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you, Harry!”

“Yeah, it has.” He scrunches his toes up in his boots and mentally cringes when he asks to see if Perrie was free. He doesn’t know why he still feels so squirmy when he comes here, as if it’s a shame for him to be seen at a therapy center. Which he knows there’s nothing to be ashamed about. Everyone is a little fucked up in the head, he just happens to be really fucked up.

“She is just finishing a session up right now if you want to wait for her.”

Harry nods and goes over to the couches to wait. He sets his phone on silent and tucks it away in his jacket pocket so he’s not tempted to text Louis. He’s taken a little longer to reply to Louis today.

He brushes his fingers over his neck, the same side dream-Louis bit him, as if he can still feel the bite marks. He takes a shaky breath and leans back against the cushions.

He doesn’t have to wait for long before Perrie comes around the corner.

“Harry!” She says surprised. “I didn’t think I was going to see you until the end of the week.” She pulls him into a hug. “What’s happened, love?”

Harry sinks into the hug and relishes in the comfort it brings, taking in the familiar scent of her perfume. “I had a nightmare but… it was about Louis, not Finn.”

Perrie gives him a concerned look and loops her arm around his. “Let’s go talk about it.”

They walk down the hall and into her office. She hands him a bottle of water like she always does and he settles in the leather chair opposite of her. He slips his shoes off and tucks his knees to his chest. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Perrie wince at the action as she pulls out his file.

“That bad?”

Harry nods and takes a swig of water. He had a habit in the beginning of their sessions of pulling his knees to his chest as a way of making himself seem smaller. The fact that he’s repeating an action that he had long left behind isn’t a good sign.

“So,” Perrie starts taking a pen out and turning to a new page. “What was the dream about?”

_Louis takes him by the hand and leads him to his bed. Harry’s heart flutters with excitement._

_“Don’t be nervous, pet,” Louis reassures him and lightly pushes him against the bed frame. His hands come up to frame Harry’s face. “You are so beautiful, Haz. I can’t handle it.” Louis leans in and brushes his nose against Harry check, breathing him in._

_Harry bring his hands to grab Louis’ waist to keep him closer. “Lou,” he breathes, tilting his head back to urge Louis closer and have more, more, more._

_Louis lightly runs a finger over Harry’s lips. Harry parts them and darts his tongue out to taste his skin._

_“Are you sure you want this? It doesn’t have to happen now,” Louis asks, pulling back to look Harry in the eyes._

_Harry wants Louis to stop pumping the breaks. He’s told him multiple times that yes he does want this. He wants it so much and so badly. “Please, Louis. We’ve waited for so long.”_

_Louis takes a shaky breath but relents. “Okay, my love. I won’t make you wait anymore.”_

_Harry preens and tugs Louis in by the back of his neck, urging him too bury his face in his neck. The place he wants Louis the most._

_Louis teases his tongue over the patch of skin and places a gentle kiss there before he bites down hard._

_The pain is unbearable for only a moment before the deepest pleasure runs over his body, stars burst in his eyes as he clutches Louis to him. “Yes,” he breathes out because_ finally _. This is all he’s wanted ever since he learned—_

_Louis suddenly clamps a hand on the other side of Harry’s neck, keeping him close and sucks harder. The pleasure quickly leaves and a wash of cold water comes running down his spine as the pain comes back in full force._

_He tries to shove Louis away but his limbs are too weak to move even a regular human let alone a vampire. He whimpers against the bite and his vision starts to cloud over as Louis drains him._

Harry swipes a few stray tears away when he finishes and focuses on his breathing. “I have no idea where that came from. Louis’ never shown that he would feed from me. And,” he squirms in his seat, digging his fingers into his legs. “It’s like he couldn’t stop. Like the moment he…tasted me, he couldn’t control himself.” 

“Are you afraid that Louis will feed from you?”

Harry shakes his head. “No, I know he won’t. He knows my boundaries, and he’s never once tried to cross them. It’s weird because this isn’t how the dreams usually end.”

Perrie looks up from her notes. “You’ve been having dreams about Louis?”

Harry shifts slightly uncomfortable and bites his lip. “Yeah? But it’s just because I like him?” He rushes out.

Perrie smiles softly at him. “Like him or like like him?”

Harry relaxes at her teasing. “C’mon Perrie.”

She giggles holding a hand up. “Sorry, but it’s too easy. But seriously, before he went to bite you, what did you think was going to happen?”

Harry’s blush deepens as he pictures skin on skin and heavy breathing. “Something I probably shouldn’t be sharing with my therapist?”

“Okay, okay, I’ll take a hint.” She ponders for a moment and looks over her notes. “I think that since Louis has recently come back into your life and you’re letting your walls down around him more than you did at the beginning, you’re afraid of being rejected for it or getting hurt. For you, you associate feeding with vulnerability which is completely normal. It’s a very venerable position to be in and you’re putting your trust in a vampire way more than you have before.”

“So what do I do?”

“Talk to him, not about your feelings for him if you don’t want to, but spend more time with him and your subconscious will catch up. If not, come back in and we’ll talk it out.”

Harry nods and gets up to leave but he pauses at the door. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course. It’s what I’m here for,” Perrie says lifting her glasses to her head. 

“It’s sort of personal.”

“Okay, if I think it’s too personal I’ll tell you. You know I’m not afraid to speak my mind.”

“What’s it like dating a vampire? I know you and your girlfriend are blood bonded so that helps but is it weird that she has this entire past that you don’t know about? And did you start dating after you became her feeder or did it just work out like that?”

“Well, not every vamp-human relationship is the same.” She deliberately points out to him. “But we started dating first and she’s told me about her past when I’ve asked but I try to focus on us and on our future together.”

“Do you ever crave to be bitten by her?” He asks hesitantly.

“Are you asking from experience?”

Harry stops and thinks. Does he really want to share that with Perrie? Something that he still doesn’t fully understand himself? Instead, he shakes his head. “Just curious.”

“Okay,” she studies him and he has to shuffle his feet so he doesn’t feel like a bug under a microscope under her stare. “No, I don’t. It can be hot in the moment but I always see it as a means to end.”

And Harry doesn’t know what to do with that information. 

 

As soon as Harry leaves, he pulls out his phone to see what Louis has sent him. It’s a selfie of the vampire pouting in front is his computer. He saves the picture and types out, _wish I could be there._

His eyes trace the contours of Louis’ face from the three freckles on his cheek to the pucker of his lips. He’s so attractive it makes Harry’s chest ache. He just wants to sit all day and look at him. And he has before when he could use sitting on the couch in Louis’ office as an excuse to be near the vampire. 

_You could. I can order Liam to go pick you up._

_Isn’t that abuse of your kingly power?_ Harry smiles down at his screen, imagining what Louis’ reaction would be. 

_He could say no if he wanted to._

_Does that mean you’ve already sent him?_

_He left five minutes ago. See you soon, darling._

 

He’s not sure if Liam is tired of driving back and forth to take Harry to his home and he makes a mental to do something as a thanks, but he all but forgets the thought when they pull up and he sees Louis waiting for them at the front door. 

“Missed me that much?” Harry asks, getting out of the car and walking over to give Louis a hug. It feels great to be back in Louis’ arms and he tries not to make it too obvious. He might be failing. 

“Always, H.” Louis steps back only slightly and keeps an arm around Harry. “Since it’s sunny today, want to explore the grounds a little more?”

“Sounds lovely.” 

They head pass the courtyard and down the stone steps. “Will you tell me where we’re going this time or do I have to guess?”

“Guess. I’m curious to know what you think we’re doing.”

Harry thinks for a moment. “You have a helicopter pad?”

“Nope.”

“A exact replica of the Batcave?”

“An excellent idea, but no.” 

Harry giggles, feeling bold and reaching over to hold Louis’ hand. “So what are we doing?” His heart skips a beat when Louis intertwines their fingers. 

“Well, I don’t know if you’ll think it’s impressive if you think we’re going to the Batcave,” Louis says reluctantly.

“I promise that whatever we do, I’ll love.”

Louis looks over and smiles. “In that case,” he stops and gestures ahead of them. “Here we are.”

In front of them is a stone paver path leading down to an greenhouse as big as a regularly sized home. The sun reflects off of the glass top that reminds Harry of a triangle with the tip cut off. Five large curved windows span the length of the main building with two smaller buildings on either side. Large wooden double doors with glass panes are dead set in the middle of the building. 

Flower beds are on either side of the path which also has a wooden fenced tunnel that offers a small bit of shade. Flowers of pinks and purples practically tempt Harry to go over and brush his fingers over the delicate petals.

“You have a greenhouse? Oh my god, it’s so big?” Harry mutters out in shock. He shouldn’t be surprised. This is the some person who owns an entire estate and has a home that could fit about 100 of his flats inside of it and still have plenty of room.

“It was an impulse decision.” Louis waves off nonchalantly.  

“ _This_ was an impulse buy?” Harry says as they walk down the red brick path. “Who even are you?”

“I take it you like it?” Louis looks hopeful and he’s practically bursting with fondness if his smile is anything to go by.

“It’s amazing,” Harry gushes.

“Wait until you see the inside.”

It’s hot inside, which isn’t a huge surprise. It is a greenhouse in the middle of summer. The entire room is filled with different types of plants, some that looks so delicate and others whose leaves are larger than Harry’s entire body. They go up and row the rows and into the attached buildings which are as long as a bowling alley. 

“How do you take care of all of these plants?” Harry asks in amazement as they settle down on a bench. 

Louis props an arm across the back of the bench and Harry leans into his side like he can’t help himself but always be touching the vampire. “I have a gardener who knows way more about all of this than I do at the moment. There’s more fruit and veg in the other annex that Niall takes advantage of, so that’s more his realm.”

“You mean in all your years, you haven’t learned botany?” Harry teases and he giggles when Louis pops him in the side.

“Cheeky boy, aren’t you?” Louis smirks, his eyes seemingly twinkling in the sunlight.

“You seem to bring it out of me,” Harry murmurs and he feels himself leaning closer to Louis as if he wasn’t control of his body. He glances down at Louis’ lips and he wets his own. When he glances back up to Louis’ eyes, he sees the smirk has turned into something softer and reassuring. The arm along the back of the curls around his upper back and urges him closer. 

His mind races with thoughts of what this means, the fact that Louis seems to feel the same draw that he does. But he can think about it later. For now, he lets his thoughts go and leans in to close the distance between them. 

He feels Louis’ lips brush his ever so slightly before cold water sprays him in the face causing him to jerk back. 

“Those damn automatic sprinklers,” Louis mutters and looks about as frustrated as Harry feels.

“I guess the plants were thirsty,” Harry whispers back feeling thirsty himself. He mentally curses them because they ruined a perfectly good moment. 

“Should we head back to the house? Get some lunch?” Louis asks, bringing a hand to wipe some of the water off of Harry’s face.

Harry nods and tilts his head into Louis’ touch. He stays silent because he doesn’t trust himself to not blurt out anything embarrassing about how much he wanted that kiss. Because that’s exactly what was going to happen. They were going to kiss.

Louis gets up and immediately intertwines their fingers together which helps to soothe the ache inside him. Harry brings his other hand to wrap around the top of Louis’ arm, feeling slightly needy as if he has to be touching as much of Louis as possible. It doesn’t seem to bother Louis though as he squeezes Harry’s hand.

They walk back to the house silently. Harry sees Liam’s car is missing, which is perfectly okay with Harry. He’ll take any excuse to stay here longer with Louis.

“What do you feel like for lunch?” Louis asks as they enter the kitchen. 

Harry finally lets go of Louis but stays within arm’s length. “I’m up for anything.”

“Let’s see what we have,” Louis mutters, opening the fridge and digging around.

Harry sits at the island and draws his eyes up Louis’ figure. He imagines stepping up behind the vampire and wrapping his arms around his waist. Kissing his neck and telling him what he really wants for lunch. The temptation is right there, and he can see himself doing it so easily.

He sees Louis’ back stiffen and he remembers suddenly that Louis can sense his emotions, which means the vampire knows exactly what Harry is feeling. It doesn’t help him in the slightest to try to calm down. 

Louis turns around, a bowl of fruit in hand, but the look on his face says he wants something else to eat. His eyes watch as Harry parts his lips and his breathing quickens slightly when the vampire steps within the space of Harry’s legs. He sets the bowl on the counter beside of Harry and ghosts his fingers over Harry’s sides and out to his forearms. 

“We should talk first,” Louis whispers.

“I know, but I don’t want to.”

“Patience, darling.” Louis presses a kiss as light as a feather on the apple of Harry’s cheek and steps away.

Harry takes a deep breath to try to calm himself. He busies himself with getting plates and silverware for them to use. He knows they need to talk but talking seems frivolous at the moment.

He notes later that night, when he’s back laying in his bed at the flat, that Louis never did use his ability to make Harry stop feeling like he was going to pounce at any moment.

 

_Louis_

Harry is back over at his home so often that Louis is tempted to ask Harry to move back in. The human is driving him crazy ever since the incident in the greenhouse, but especially in the kitchen later on. The feeling of pure lust and want wafting off of Harry almost knocked him off his feet. It was so tempting to act on Harry’s very obvious feelings. But he has to be rational, which he only slightly regrets now as they are in a familiar position of Harry lounging on the couch while Louis is working.

Though, to be perfectly honest, Louis isn’t really making any progress on the reports when Harry is there in his eye-line. The human has on a button down flamingo printed shirt with the last two buttons done up. His chest is exposed and it makes Louis want to learn every inch of it with his tongue. 

He’s wearing jeans that hug the curve of his legs, accentuating the tone of his thighs and hips. But the thing that draws Louis’ attention the most is Harry’s exposed neck. He can easily hear the steady beating of Harry’s heart from his place at the desk, but he can also see the human’s pulse. Even his fangs, tucked away, are longing to sink down into the warmth of Harry’s neck.

But he knows he’s not craving it because he’s hungry. He makes sure that he’s fed from a blood bag before Harry gets to the home. He doesn’t really know what it is, but he knows that the pull he feels towards Harry is getting stronger the longer they spend together. 

And he knows there’s something he has to tell Harry before anything else happens. He’s grateful that Liam and Niall decided to go traveling for a few weeks so he knows that Niall won't accidentally eavesdrop. 

“H?” Louis asks to get his attention.

Harry looks up from the book he was reading. “Done for the night?”

Louis toys with a pen gathering the courage to do this. “I think so. Um, can I show you something?”

“Is there another secret room that you haven’t shown me yet?”

Louis laughs nervously and goes over to the couch. “Sort of.”

Sensing the serious tone, Harry drops the teasing act. “Everything okay?”

Louis nods and takes Harry hand pulling him off the couch and out of his office. “Yeah, I will be.”

They walk up the stairs to the second floor and Harry’s curiosity grows at they walk down the hall his old bedroom is on. Louis stops in front of a door he hasn’t opened since Harry was here all those years ago.

“Um, I know you’ve been curious about my past, and I want to share that with you,” Louis starts and opens the door to the small storage room. He goes over to a painting covered with a sheet. “I guess this is a part of the talk I said we needed to have before, erm, anything happens.”

He glances over at Harry who’s looking at him with an encouraging gaze and he takes the sheet off of the picture of he and Thomas leaning into each other’s arms by the lake.

“The last relationship I was in was with a boy named Thomas. We were together for decades. We were even blood bonded until one day he decided he wanted to pass on. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, to see him in such pain as the bond broke and let him out of my life.”

Waves of sadness come off of Harry and the human comes over to comfort Louis. 

“I was so in love with him. Thought he was my soulmate. They exist you know, soulmates. Or at least they’re supposed to. They’re more of a myth really.”

“You don’t think so anymore?” Harry asks quietly.

Louis shrugs. “I don’t know. I think they could, but for years I was blinded by the loss of Thomas that I pushed any thought of soulmates out of my head.”

“And now?”

Louis can hear the hope in Harry’s voice as he waits for Louis’ answer. “Perhaps.”

“How do you know if someone is your soulmate?”

Louis sighs and looks back at the painting. “I think you sort of just _know_. But it can’t be that easy. I’m sorry I haven’t told you about him before.”

Harry stays silent but takes Louis’ hands in his. “You’ve lived a long life so far,” he says, rubbing his thumbs over the back of Louis’ hands. “You were bound to fall in love at some point, and I know I can never replace Thomas. It’s obvious he was important to you. But you deserve to be happy and you make _me_ happy and I think I make you happy too?” He says the last part with clear hesitation. 

Louis nods and pulls Harry in, raising on his toes to tuck his face in the crook of his shoulder. “You sort of remind me of Thomas from time to time,” he mutters into his neck. “Especially when you tease me about being a king.”

“Does that bother you?” 

Louis shakes his head “No… what I feel for you is different than what I felt for Thomas.” He runs his nose over the line of Harry’s jaw and the human takes a shaky breath and the hands on his waist twitch. “Deeper, I think.”

He feels Harry biting back a smile and Harry turns his head to press a kiss to Louis’ temple. 

Louis closes his eyes at the touch, feeling at peace. 

“I feel the same. All I know is that I can’t stop thinking about you,” Harry confesses. “And it scares me a little. That I want you so much.”

Louis runs his fingers through the back of Harry’s hair, lightly scratching his scalp. “We can take it slow if you want to. There’s no need to jump head first into anything.”

“Okay.”

“Do you want to stay the night with me?” Louis whispers out, already dreading the moment Harry has to leave. 

Harry nods against his head. “Please.”

 

As they leave the room, Harry is tempted to tell Louis that he’d already been in the room and had already seen the picture of Louis and Thomas. He tamps down the swirl of jealousy in favor of letting the one word that stuck out like a shining beacon take over the forefront of his mind. 

Soulmate. 

The notion seems far fetched. How can there be one person in the entire universe for you? How can two souls find one another through time and space? It doesn’t seem possible and yet maybe it is. All he knows is that he loves the way Louis brushes his thumb over the back of Harry’s hand as they walk, he loves the crinkles that appear by Louis’ eyes when he smiles, and he loves how comfortable he feels around him. 

It makes him giddy to know Louis feels the same way about him. 

When Harry goes to enter his old bedroom, Louis’ grip on his hand stops him. “How about you go shower and meet me in my room? If that’s okay with you?”

Harry nods and manages out a response. “Yeah.” 

“Okay, it’s, um, down the hall and to the right,” Louis says backing away and Harry assumes he’s going to go shower off himself.

When he enters his room, he quickly goes to the bathroom to shower. He’s thankful for Past-Harry for bringing extra clothes so he doesn’t have to change back into his dirty clothes. Though he knows that Louis wouldn’t mind sharing some of his.

Once he’s out, he towels off and rubs the towel through his hair until it resembles something like a bird’s nest on top. He dresses in soft shorts and a t-shirt before he heads down the hall to Louis’ room.

He’s never seen the inside of Louis’ bedroom before, but it’s bigger than his own. The drapes are open when he walks in, giving him a peak of the stars. He hears the hiss of the shower in the ensuite to the right of the king sized bed that looks dwarfed in the room. Another desk is situated on the wall opposite the bed. 

The a rug under the bed is soft on Harry’s bare feet. He climbs under the covers and tries to stop his heart from beating out of his chest. He’s never slept with anyone else in the bed. His eagerness coincides with nervousness. 

He doesn’t really know what Louis will expect from him. Will he want to cuddle? Stay on their own sides? Did Harry pick the right side? Does Louis even sleep? Do vampires need sleep? Should Harry sit up until Louis gets out of the shower, or should he go ahead and lay down? 

Then a wave of peace comes over him and he looks to the left as Louis comes out of the bathroom, still rubbing his towel through his hair. “I could sense your anxiety from the shower, figured you wouldn’t mind if I helped ease it a bit.”

“Not at all. Thank you,” Harry says and sits up.

“What’s got you in a tizzy anyway?” Louis tosses his towel in the bathroom and climbs in bed. 

Harry blushes and smoothes down the sheets around his waist. “I was sort of overthinking being in here.”

“It’s just me.”

“That’s just the thing, it’s _you_.”

Louis reaches over and stops Harry’s motions with the touch of his hand. He brings Harry’s hand up and kisses his knuckles. “It doesn’t have to be complicated. We can just sleep on our own sides if that makes you feel better.”

“No, thank you.”

Louis giggles and it breaks the tension in the room. “C’mere you silly boy.”

Louis lays down and Harry gladly rests his head on Louis’ chest, bringing a hand up to settle on his stomach. He feels the up and down movement as Louis breathes and snuggles in deeper. Louis brings an arm to wrap around his shoulders. It almost takes him aback when he doesn’t hear a heartbeat, but, surprisingly, it doesn’t bother him, especially when Louis brushes a kiss to his forehead.

“Better?” Louis whispers. 

Harry nods his head feeling content that he knows is coming from being in Louis’ presence. “Much.”

 

 

Louis rolls over and stretches. When his hand touches warmed sheets and not skin, he pushes out his hearing. He grins when he realizes that Harry’s in the kitchen, which means he didn’t dream up last night. Didn’t dream that Harry spent the night and let Louis curl around him while they slept. It was real.

But that also means he didn’t dream that he finally told Harry about Thomas. While he misses him at times so much it hurts, he feels lighter than he did before. As if he’s ready to find a home in Harry.

He uses his vampiric abilities to hurry down to the first story and into the kitchen. “What are you making, darling?”

Harry jumps away from the stovetop with a spatula in hand. “You need a bell on you or you’re going to give me heart attack one of these days,” he pouts and turns back to the stove. 

“But it’s so fun seeing you jump out of your skin, Haz.”

“Rude. We’re having pancakes, by the way.”

“Need any help?” Louis asks, coming over and resting a hand on Harry’s hip, kissing the top of his shoulder. 

“Want to get the fruit out for toppings?”

“I can do that.” Louis opens the fridge and pulls out a carton of berries. “The fridge looks way too empty.”

“It’s obvious Niall hasn’t been here for a while. Do they usually take off like that?”

“Yeah.” Louis rinses off the berries and pours some in a bowl. “Niall is a free spirit, really, and impulsive, so he takes Liam with him.”

“Because he’s his feeder?” Harry asks hesitantly.

“That’s one reason, but also because they’re best friends.” He’s surprised Harry’s brought up the topic of feeders. Ever since Harry came back to the house, he and Niall have been very good at hiding when they’ve fed. Niall has always bitten Liam when he knows Harry won’t be around, and Louis has made sure to clean up his blood bags. He’s certain feeders are still a sore subject for Harry and decides to see if Harry expands on it. 

He doesn’t, though, and focuses on making breakfast. While he waits, Louis sets the breakfast bar up for the two of them: two plates, two glasses of juice, orange for him and apple for Harry, silverware, honey, maple syrup, and powdered sugar just in case Harry has a sweet tooth this morning. 

“What do you have planned for today?” Harry asks, stacking the last of the pancakes on a plate and setting it down between their plates.

“The usual,” Louis says and forks a few pancakes on his plate. “There’s a city a few hours away that’s having a problem their bus system that apparently can’t be resolved without someone getting angry and vandalizing them.”

“And you have to help them?” Harry asks around a mouthful of food.

Louis rolls his eyes. “That’s exactly what I think.”

“Are you still complaining about your job?” A voice says from the doorway that really causes Harry to jump out of his skin. Louis has to use his ability and a reassuring hand on Harry’s back to help calm him down.

It’s Zayn standing in the doorway looking all mysterious and aloof decked out in his detective uniform and a black briefcase. A very rude and intrusive Zayn though.

“As always, Malik. What can I do for you this morning?” Louis asks, taking a sip of his juice.

Zayn glances between Louis and Harry and clears his throat. “Can I talk to you in private?”

Which, that can’t be good at all. Louis does get up though but not without fluttering his hand over Harry’s side as he passes by him on his way out of the kitchen.

They don’t go far since Harry’s hearing range isn’t very wide.

“What’s wrong?”

“You know how we’ve been trying to find Harry’s file after Finn’s execution?”

“Did you find it?” Louis asks hopeful.

“No, but I have something that might help us.”

Louis huffs and puts his hands on his hips. “You came all this way and interrupted a perfectly nice breakfast, for another piece of evidence?”

“Lou,” Zayn says softly and hands him a file. “It’s his family.”

Louis gasps as he reads the tops of the page reading _Missing Persons Report_. He skims the crinkled document that talks about an Anne and Gemma Styles looking for their son/brother Harry Styles. The date of the top of the page is dated the day after the attack on Harry’s academy. “They’ve been searching for him all of this time?”

Zayn nods and shuffles his feet, clearing his throat again. “I’m having files on them pulled but it looks like they Turned about a decade after Harry was taken.”

Tears prick at Louis’ eyes. “I never saw this. How come I haven’t seen this report till now?”

“That’s the other catch,” Zayn starts and pulls out another file out of his briefcase. “The officer in charge at the station they went to was Cowell.”

Louis’ lip instinctively curls up in a snarl at the name. “That fucking prick? He’s been dead for decades though.”

“And he’s like a bad penny, he keeps coming back.”

Louis takes the other document. “As long as he’s still ash.” He skims the paper which shows a hierarchy map of the human trading ring that he was sure he helped bring down with Finn. “Don’t tell me they’re back.”

“Nope, but Cowell was the ringleader, not Finn. One of the lackey’s finally told us the intimate details of how Cowell practically groomed Finn for the role. He used his position to make sure any reports on Harry or the other missing kids were never solved.”

A flare of hatred sparks in Louis at the thought that someone as cruel as Cowell having an impact on Harry’s life. “Let me know when you find Anne and Gemma,” he says.

“Are you going to tell Harry?”

Louis ponders it for a moment. He needs to. Harry deserves to get to know the family he lost all those years ago. “I’ll tell him now. There’s no guarantee he’ll want to see them after everything, but he needs to have a choice in his life for once.”

Zayn leaves and Louis braces himself for the questions and curiosity Harry will surely have when he gets back to the kitchen. 

Sure enough, the pout on Harry’s face is evident when he sits back down at the breakfast bar, paper still in hand.

“Is everything okay?” Harry glances down at Louis’ hands and his brows furrow. “What is that?”

Louis takes a deep breath, pushes his plate away, and carefully sets the missing person report on the counter. “Zayn came to tell me that he has found your mum and older sister. They went to the police to look for you the day after you were taken,” he explains slowly, feeling the swirl of emotions coming off of Harry so quickly it’s almost hard to untangle them.

“My family?” Harry whispers and takes the paper. Louis sees his eyes trace back and forth over the paper taking in all the information. When Harry looks back up, tears have already fallen down his cheeks. “They looked for me?”

Louis leans over and runs his fingers through Harry’s hair in an attempt to comfort the boy. “They are, they’re still looking for you, darling. Zayn is trying to track them down too.”

“I-I could see them again?” Harry asks, his voice shaky and it breaks Louis’ heart to see Harry like this.

“Only if you want to.”

Harry nods quickly and breaks down into sobs that shake his whole body. Louis quickly pulls Harry off the stool and into his body, letting the human curl into his chest. 

 

_Harry_

It’s been a month since Louis told him that his family was looking for him, and today’s the day he gets to see them. Harry is fucking nervous. Louis and Zayn have arranged everything. Zayn is on his way to Louis’ home to drop his mum and sister off. In a few short minutes, he’s going to see his mum and sister after fifty-five years. 

Louis already warned him in advanced that they have Turned into vampires and he’s not quite sure how to feel about that. But he figures it won’t matter as long as he can see them again.

“Do I need to help you?” Louis asks from behind him as Harry fixes the buttons on his shirt, re-buttoning them in the correct spots. 

Harry shakes his head. “No, I’ll be fine.”

“Darling, you look as pale as a sheet and that’s the third time you’re having to fix your shirt.”

Harry turns around and sees Louis leaning against his dresser watching Harry with concern. “Okay, maybe a little bit.”

Louis smiles and comes over to brush his hands over Harry’s cheek. As he does so, calmness washes over him and he’s able to take a proper deep breath. “It’ll be fine, Harry.”

Harry nods and takes another deep breath. He sees Louis cocks his head to the side.

“They’re here,” he says with a smile.

Harry takes another deep breath and leans into Louis’ touch. “Okay, let’s go.”

Louis holds his hand all the way down the stairs and out the front door. It takes a few moments but Harry sees a dark car turn down the long pebble driveway and his heart stutters in his chest. 

Before the car has fully stopped, the back door opens and two women rush out.

“Harry!” The brunette one calls out and he instantly recognizes her.

“Mum!” Harry breaks away from Louis and runs towards them. They clash into one another in a mass of limbs.

“Oh, my baby,” Anne cries and presses kiss after kiss into his hair and Harry holds on tight to her.

“I can’t believe it’s really you,” Gemma says. She’s older now, maybe around his age with blonde hair and grown face, which is so weird to Harry since the last time he stay her, she wasn’t even a teenager yet.

Harry’s not really sure how long they stand there hugging and crying but his heart feels whole and complete. He peeks over his mum’s shoulder and sees Louis looking at them from the entryway with a watery smile.

Yeah, he feels whole now.

 

When they finally let each other go, Anne, and Gemma follow Harry inside and to the living room. He explains in as little detail as he can manage what happened to him. How he was taken by Finn, the head of a human trading ring, and was forced to be blood bonded to him for fifty years until Zayn and the rest of the Task Force found him. How Louis took him in and helped heal him and brought Perrie in to help teach Harry how his views on vampires were completely skewed from his experience with Finn.

He sees Anne and Gemma exchange wary looks at one another at that part and he has to remind himself that they are now vampires too. He still doesn’t know how to feel about that, but he figures he has time to digest that information. For now, he’ll stay tucked into his mum’s side.

 

They spend the rest of the day together and exchange numbers with the promise to text often and to go out for brunch one day.

Harry collapses on Louis’ bed after he’s showered feeling emotionally exhausted. He turns and cuddles into Louis’ side who absentmindedly pecks him on the forehead.

“Feeling okay, darling?”

Harry nods. “I have my family back. I feel amazing.”

 

Two weeks later, Harry’s back at the bookstore, gushing to Tabitha about his family. The morning has been a little slow, and the rain outside is probably a major factor. Who wants to buy books in the rain?

“Gemma is going back to school for another doctorate and Mum is helping her with her sunglasses range that’s coming out soon,” he says as he sits at the stool by the register. Tabitha is changing out the design of the window front, which disturbs Glenda and Elphaba’s beds, so they both are curled at Harry’s feet. He’s wrapping some of their new books in brown paper to make mystery books for customers to pick based on a few details about the books. 

“That’s incredible, lovie,” she says and she starts stacking books in the shape of a tree. She already hung up a mix of yellow, orange, and red fake leaves. It might be the middle of August, but Tabitha is ready for fall to get here.

Harry on the other hand isn’t ready for the trees to lose their leaves and the cold to come seeping back into the air.

“When are you seeing them next?”

Harry gets up, without disturbing the cats of course, and sets the books in wicker basket. “We’re having lunch today.”

Tabitha snorts. “No wonder you keep looking at the clock so often.”

Harry grins and goes over to the window to help Tabitha with the display. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy before.”

“It looks good on you, H.”

 

Gemma comes around to the bookstore a quarter after one, messenger bag slung over her shoulder and an umbrella in hand. “Hey, sorry I’m late. My study group ran a little long.”

“No problem," Harry says, coming over and giving her a hug. “Where’s Mum?”

“Charming the waiter at the restaurant since we’re running a little late. I think she’s already ordered mimosas for us.”

“Sounds great!” He hooks his arm around hers. “See you later, Tabitha!” He calls over his shoulder.

“Have fun, dear!” Tabitha calls out from the back of the store.

He and Gemma walk down the sidewalk huddled under the umbrella as they avoid puddles to Gemma’s car a few block away. 

“How have you been, baby brother?” Gemma asks when they finally find refuge in her car. 

“Really good. Niall and Liam are still on their vacation, so it’s still me and Louis at the house.”

“Where did they go?”

“Erm,” Harry pulls out his phone to pull up one of the pictures Niall sent him. “No idea, but it looks sunny.”

Gemma groans. “Uh, I miss the sun.”

“Back to the cold and dreary weather we know and love,” he says sarcastically.

It only takes them ten minutes to find a parking spot and walk through the rain into the brunch style restaurant. 

Anne is sitting at a table in towards the back of the restaurant and she gets up to hug and kiss Harry on the cheek. Harry still can’t believe that he’s with his family again. His memories from before are still a little fuzzy to him, but he still remembers how he felt during the beginning of his childhood. That feeling hasn’t changed, even after all these years and time apart.

 

 

“Do you want to make a deal?” Harry asks as he cleans up their breakfast dishes. It’s been a few months after he reunited with his family, and Harry feels better than he ever did. He officially moved back in with Louis towards the end of August but he still goes to the bookstore for a few shifts a week. Niall and Liam came back soon after his brunch outing with his mum and Gemma with burnt skin and an entire luggage filled with new clothes.

Liam is teaching Harry how to drive, so he doesn’t have to fully rely on Liam to take him to and from work so often.

“Depends on what it is.”

He turns around and pins Louis against the counter, he’s been feeling bolder recently when it comes to his relationship with Louis. He doesn’t shy away from initiating anything. “How about you take today off and we spend it in the pool?” He’s been feeling quite needy recently and wants all of Louis’ attention on him.

Louis places his hands on Harry’s waist and puckers his lips out, thinking. “What’s in it for me?”

Harry smiles and rests his hands on Louis’ chest, tracing the line of his collarbones. “A day away from those boring reports and emails and me in the pool. Maybe some Italian food later.”

Louis hums and kisses the tip of Harry’s nose. “Add brownies to that list and you’ve got yourself a deal.” He pulls away quickly and races away from him at human speed. “Race you there!”

“Not fair!” Harry calls out and chases after the vampire. He has to go slow down the stairs so he doesn’t fall and hurt himself. The last thing he would want to do is to fall and ruin the day for Louis.

By the time Harry has changed out of his clothes and into his bathing suit, Louis is already in the pool.

“Cheater,” Harry says and walks over to the steps.

“All’s fair in love and war,” Louis replies and swims over to Harry, taking his hand and urging him further into the water. The heat from the water is so soothing to Harry and he hums as he submerges in it. The nights have been getting cooler and Harry is beginning to mourn the lovely summer nights.

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Whatever you say, pet.”

They float around for awhile, Harry talking about a customer that came into the bookstore the other day and their ridiculous questions.

“I honestly think Tabitha was going to sick Elphaba on the woman,” Harry says, treading water in the deep end.

“I need to meet this Tabitha, sounds like we’ll get on.”

“She keeps asking about you.” 

“Oh yeah?"

Harry nods and swims backwards until his back hits the wall so he can hold onto the ledge. “Says she wants to see the man who’s got me smitten.”

Louis smirks and swims over to Harry. “Are you smitten, kitten?” He traps Harry against the wall with a hand on either side of him.

Harry slowly nods, his eyes glancing down to Louis’ lips and back up. “I’d say so. How could I not be with someone like you?"

Harry bumps his feet against Louis’ as Louis brings a hand to cup Harry’s cheek. He leans into the touch and takes a shaky breath.

Louis brushes his thumb over Harry’s bottom lip. And finally, _finally,_ Louis leans in and presses his lips to Harry’s. His lips are soft and gentle and move slowly as if he’s testing the waters. Harry wants to dive in deep. He tilts his head and lets go of the ledge so he can hold onto Louis instead, knowing that Louis will keep him afloat. Their lips separate with a soft smack, and Louis pulls back far enough to see Harry’s reaction.

Louis’ smile is so bright it could power the sun and he leans in to bush his nose against Harry’s before he captures his lips once more.

Harry brings his legs up to wrap around Louis’ waist so he’s hanging completely off of Louis. He moans just thinking about Louis holding both of them up with one arm on the ledge.

When they break apart so Harry can catch his breath, Louis looks just as affected by the kiss as Harry feels. His wet hair is tousled, his lips are red, his pupils are wide, and his cheeks are flushed, and Harry knows it not just the heated pool causing it. If Louis looks like that, he can’t imagine how he looks in return.

They come crashing together again. Each kiss getting deeper and longer until Harry is a swirl of lust and need with Louis Louis Louis on his mind.

“Lou,” he whispers, his lips brushing over Louis’ as he talks. 

“Hmm?” Louis kisses the apple of Harry’s cheek, his jawline, his neck and Harry drops his head back to give Louis more room to explore while being mindful of the ledge behind him.

“Let’s get out of the pool.”

Louis comes back up, his eyes searching Harry’s. “Yeah?”

Harry nods and leans in again for another kiss— softer, but full of promise.

In a flash, Harry finds himself splayed out on Louis’ bed. He worries for a split second about ruining the sheets with the chlorine water, but his mind blanks completely when Louis straddles his hips. His hands instantly go to Louis’ waist, and Harry runs his fingers up and down his back. 

Louis kisses down his neck and sucks hard as his hand reaches up to pin Harry’s hands above his head. Harry arches against him and moans at the action. The idea that Louis is right there at his neck while he’s in such a vulnerable position excites him way more than he thought it would. Suddenly, he wishes that Louis would bite him, feed from him, and take whatever he wanted. The thought scares Harry as much as it thrills him.

He feels Louis’ hardness when the vampire grinds down, and Harry throws back his head in a silent moan. He tugs against the hands holding him down and Louis lets him go. He takes advantage of it, grabbing Louis by the bum and pulling his hips down to Harry’s again in a rocking motion trying chase that feeling again.

Louis comes back up for an open mouth kiss, his tongue darting out to meet Harry’s and Harry’s blood sings with want for this man. 

“Oh my god, Lou,” Harry murmurs into between kisses.

Louis trails his hand down Harry’s chest, tracing the line of his bathing suit. “Can I?”

Harry’s heartbeat is loud in his ears when he nods. Louis gets off of Harry long enough to pull down his suit. Harry’s cock slaps against his stomach, and he swears he sees Louis lick his lips at the sight.

“C’mere, you too,” Harry urges Louis close enough for Harry to takes his suit off. He slowly slides the wet material off, throwing the clothing to the side. He lets his hands linger on Louis’ bum, gripping his cheeks in either hand. He’s only slightly intimidated at the size of Louis’ cock.

Louis straddles him again and urges Harry into a sitting position. Louis wraps one arm around Harry’s neck and lets the other fall down to his lap, taking Harry’s cock in his hand.

Harry jerks his hips forward as Louis slowly pumps his hand up and down his length, using the precum to help make the glide wetter.

He mirrors Louis’ action and wraps his hand around Louis’ cock.

“You’re so good, H,” Louis whispers against his lips. “You feel so good.”

It doesn’t take long for the pleasure to build up at the base of Harry’s spine and release on an upstroke, cum spraying up and covering both their chests. Louis’ breath hitches as he soon follows. Harry is breathless by the time his body comes back down to earth.

“Oh my god,” he manages to say and he runs his hand up and down Louis’ spine slowly, feeling that Louis is just as out of breath. 

Louis brings his hand up and licks up the cum covering his hand. Harry feels his cock twitch at the sight.

Louis giggles cheekily and runs his hand through Harry’s hair. “I think we need a shower,” he says, wrinkling his nose.

Harry smirks and looks down at the mess they made between them. “I think we do too.”

Louis reluctantly gets up and hauls Harry off the bed. It goes unsaid that they’ll shower together. Harry manages to pick up their wet bathing suits to toss them in the sink to be washed later.

“We’ll have to change the sheets,” Harry points out as Louis starts the shower, sticking his hand under the water as it warms up.

“Or,” Louis flicks water at Harry. “We could sleep in your bed and worry about mine tomorrow.” He pulls Harry under the water and starts washing the cum off of Harry’s chest with a washcloth.

Harry reaches over Louis for the shampoo and squirts a little into his hands. “Sounds like a plan.”

 

Later, after they’ve dried off, redressed, and baked brownies, they lie in Harry’s bed side by side, eating out of the brownie pan, passing a fork back and forth.

“These are so good,” Louis moans around forkful and Harry is so so endeared by this man. “I don’t know what you did to make them this good, but I’ve never made brownies as tasty as these.”

Harry chuckles and abandons the shared fork in favor of using his fingers. They get burned only slightly but it’s worth it because it’s _brownies_. “I used a box mix from your pantry and added a few more chocolate chips. You have to of had better brownies than these.”

“Nuh uh,” Louis shakes his head. “You have the magic touch, H. I could eat this entire tray.”

“But then I won’t get any,” Harry says with an exaggerated pout.

“Which is exactly why I’m not.” He leans in for a kiss. 

He tastes like chocolate, unsurprisingly, and Harry deepens the kiss, forgetting the dessert for a moment. Why have dessert when he could kiss Louis? He pulls back and leans his forehead against Louis’. “You make me so happy,” Harry whispers.

Louis smiles brightly and entwines their hands. “You make me happy too, Harry. More than you’ll ever know.”

They spend the rest of the night trading kisses between bites of brownies, and if the brownies fall off the bed and onto the floor when they finally fall asleep, then they’ll deal with it tomorrow.

 

 

_Louis is hovering over Harry, teasing the ever loving shit out of him. Harry’s body feels like it’s on a wire and at any moment, one more twist of Louis hand or tease of his fingers will tip him over the edge._

_“Lou, please,” Harry pants._

_“Please what?” Louis asks cocking his head to the side with a mischievous grin. “Tell me what you want, love.”_

_He sees Louis incisors and knows what he wants. He must have stared long enough because Louis’ grin shifts into a smirk as his fangs drop. Harry feels himself getting harder at the sight._

_“Yes,” he moans, drawing out the word and he drops his head back, exposing his neck._

_Louis leans down and kisses his favorite spot to bite, nipping at the skin._

_Harry groans in frustration and brings a hand up to tangle in Louis’ hair. “Please, Lou, please bite m- Oh!”_

_Louis must love interrupting Harry this way, love hearing him fall apart underneath him. Harry comes in an instant as Louis feeds, taking warmth from Harry and using it as his own._

Harry jerks awake and brings a hand up to his neck, feeling for a bite mark. He almost feels disappointed when he realizes it was just a dream.

 

_Louis_

Louis is sitting on the countertop while Harry starts making them popcorn one night. 

Niall suddenly bursts into the kitchen. “Okay, it’s lad’s night,” he says clapping his hands together. “Drop that popcorn and go put on some skinnies.

Louis groans dramatically and drops his head back. “Nooooo.”

“Hey,” Niall says point at Louis. “You made me a promise that when I declare ‘lad’s night’ you couldn’t refuse.”

“That was a bet and it happened over one hundred years ago _and_ you cheated.”

Niall shrugs. “Not my fault you didn’t clarify the stipulations of the bet.”

“Uh,” Harry speaks up. “What bet?”

Louis shudders and hops off the counter, grabbing Harry’s hand and pulling him out of the kitchen and past the cheating vampire. “Don’t ask.”

Once everyone is out of sweats and in more bar appropriate clothes, they all hop in a car and head into town. The bar they chose is a low-key one. Music not too loud to hurt Niall and Louis’ ears, not too crowded for Harry to feel nervous, but with enough room and people for them to not feel like the only ones there.

Liam and Harry snag them a booth while Niall and Louis go to order drinks. 

“So, Louis,” Niall says while they wait for the bartender to come over. “I’ve noticed you and Harry have gotten a lot closer since Liam and I have been gone.”

Louis bites back a smile but Niall sees right through it. He claps Louis on the back. “That good, huh?”

“Fuck off,” Louis says with no heat behind his tone. “He’s so lovely, innit he?” He darts his eyes over Niall’s shoulder to look for Harry. Despite the cooling temperatures outside, Harry is wearing a button down patterned shirt with only the last three buttons done up. If Harry moves in a certain way, Louis will be able to see the tip of his happy trail. But it’s the way his neck is on display that has Louis holding back from dropping his fangs.

“Okay, I know that look,” Niall says, drawing Louis’ attention away.

“What look?”

“That look of pure hunger and lust,” Niall points out. “You haven’t bitten him, have you?”

Louis frowns and shakes his head. “No, I know he won’t want me too. Not after what all he’s been through.”

“Do you want to though?”

Louis glances back at Harry and then he looks down. “Way more than I should want to. It’s like there’s something pulling me to do it. I have to resist biting him every time we’re together.”

“You know they say that’s a clear sign of soulmates.”

Louis rolls his eyes and turns to try to flag down the bartender. 

“I’m being serious, Lou,” Niall says, putting a hand on Louis’ arm. “The fact that you’re beginning to crave that so much is a sign that you and Harry are soulmates.”

“Or it means that I’m hungry and the more intimate I get with him, the more I’m wanting to feed from him.”

“Have you been having dreams about it?” When Louis hesitates, Niall continues on with enthusiasm. “Lou, please tell me your not using your past to blind you of what’s so obvious. Your soul is begging you to tie you two together.”

“Niall,” Louis says softly but firmly. “Soulmates can’t be real. Even if they were, I’m not going to risk pushing Harry to do anything that I know he doesn’t want for something that we’re not even sure is going to happen."

“Talk to him about it,” Niall says reassuringly. “Chances are, he’s feeling the exact way about you.”

Louis pushes the conversation in the back of his mind. No matter how much he wants to bite Harry, to feed from him, he won’t. Even though Harry has come far, has healed, he is still too easily triggered by the idea of other vamps feeding. He wouldn’t want Louis to feed from him. 

And what if they’re not soulmates? Why take that risk to bring it up to Harry only for it to turn out horribly wrong?

 

_Harry_

Harry is exhausted as he climbs into his car and heads home late one Friday night. The bookstore was packed for the vast majority of the day and he’s been on his feet for all of it. It was as if every person within a ten mile radius of the store decided that they wanted to buy a book today exclusively from The Yellow Book Road. 

Not that Harry is complaining about having customers, but did they really need to all come at once? With so many questions too? Even Glenda, who’s usually a very social cat, hid away in the back room for most of the day.

He drives home in a daze, and he’s so out if it that that he punches in the incorrect code to the gate twice before he gets it right. All he wants to do now is collapse somewhere soft and not do anything for the rest of the night. Maybe he can get Niall to make him something so decadent and rich that it’ll knock him into a food coma and he can sleep for at least ten hours.

He trudges up upstairs and to the front door. “Hello?” he calls out, not hearing or seeing anyone yet. The dining room is dark and the kitchen is barely lit up. He glances over to the staircase and groans just thinking about having to climb up to his room.

Then Louis is by his side with a soft smile and pulls him into a hug. “You’re back,” he says, when he pulls back he wrinkles his nose. “Whoa, are you alright?”

Harry nods and leans forward again, wrapping his arms around Louis and burying his face in the crook of his neck. “‘m exhausted.”

Louis pets his hair and traces his fingers up and down his spine. “I’d take it you don’t want to come down for movie night?”

Harry shakes his head. “Just wanna be with you.”

Louis kisses his temple. “Okay, darling. Niall, Harry and I’ll skip out on movie night tonight.”

“Sorry, Niall,” Harry mutters sleepily. 

Louis quietly laughs. “He forgives you. Now c’mon,” he suddenly hoists Harry off his feet and wraps his legs around his waist. “Let’s get you upstairs.”

If Harry weren’t so tired, he would 100% be turned on by Louis carrying him and act on it, but that’ll have to wait for another day.

Louis carries him up to their room and into the ensuite. He sets Harry down on the counter and goes over to the bathtub to start filling it with water. Harry sleepily watches as the vampire pours in bubble bath. The room starts smelling like vanilla and honey. His stomach grumbles as he starts imagining a giant vanilla cupcake.

Louis peaks over his shoulder from where he’s sitting by the bath. “Have you eaten anything?”

Harry shakes his head. “Not since lunch. I was too tired to pick anything up.”

Louis tuts and crosses the room, cupping Harry’s face. “I think there’s some left over Chinese I can heat up. Maybe an egg roll if Niall didn’t eat all of them.”

Harry moans. “That sounds so good.”

Louis grins and rises on his tiptoes to press a soft kiss to Harry’s lips. “Get undressed and into the tub, I’ll bring it up when it’s done.”

“I love you,” Harry says and goes to take his top off. When Louis doesn’t move, Harry freezes, his shirt halfway off his body.

Louis looks like he’s about to burst with fondness. “I love you too, Haz.” He kisses Harry again, darting his tongue out to tease him. “I’ll be back soon.”

Harry doesn’t move until he realizes that the bath is almost full. He panics for only a moment while he fully undress and sinks down into the hot water. How could he nonchalantly declare his love for Louis? Louis deserves to have songs written about him. For people to yell out just how precious and endearing and beautiful and kind hearted he is to everyone who can hear. He deserves the world. 

Harry should have romanced the fuck out of Louis. Made him dinner and desert. Give him something pretty that he’ll love. Give him a full body massage with fancy oils and lotions. Organized a fireworks display to go off as soon as they kissed. Something outrageously worthy of a romantic comedy that they love. He had one shot and he blew it because he knows he will never love someone as much as he loves Louis.

Although, he thinks as he sinks lower in water, confessing in the way that he did is so uniquely them. Their entire relationship has be based off of soft touches, whispered declarations, and cuddles. They don’t need all the fanfare that comes from cheesy rom coms. 

Soon, Harry hears the pitter-patter of bare feet on hardwood and looks back at the door. Louis comes around the corner with a bowl of lo mein in one hand and a plate of two egg rolls in another. Harry reaches over to the side and pulls the wooden tray that fits over either side of the tub. Louis sets the dishes down and runs his fingers though Harry’s hair. 

“Can I join?” He asks, softly tugging on a knot.

“I’d be upset if you didn’t.”

Louis chuckles and steps out of his jogger and sweater. “Well, I wouldn’t want to upset you.” He gets in opposite of Harry and wiggles his feet to one side. He tugs Harry’s feet on his lap and starts to dig into the pressure points. 

Harry moans around a bite of egg roll. “Fuck me, that feels good.”

“Not tonight, darling, you’re much too tired. I want to do that myself.”

Harry shakes his head slowly and bites back a smile at Louis’ smirk. “If I wasn’t so tired or hungry,” he holds up his half-eaten egg roll. “I would throw this at you.”

“Oh, I don’t know how I feel about food play,” Louis continues the smirk firmly placed on his lips.

Harry leans back and laughs. “I hate you.”

“No you don’t. You love me.”

Harry hides his smile in his bowl of lo mein. No, he could never hate him.

 

 

When Harry wakes up one morning, the sun is shining so brightly it burns his eyes. He groans and rolls over to plop his face in his pillow to drown out the light. Why is it so bright this morning? Who turned up the sun? Then he realizes that they forgot to close the blinds the night before. He curses the winter sun and begrudgingly get up to close the drapes so they could have a few more hours of sleep.

As he walks back to bed, he notices Louis is laying flat on his back and an idea starts to form in Harry’s mind. He slowly crawls up the bed, being mindful of where Louis’ legs are as to not wake the vampire, and tugs down the sheet. It’s moments like this that he slightly regrets the cold winter nights forcing Louis to actually put on flannel pajama pants. It’s only getting in his way.

Harry reaches down and palms Louis’ cock, feeling it start to harden slightly at the movement. He slowly peels the pjs down his thighs, watching as it bobs upwards. Harry bites his lip and wants to know what’s it like to have the length in his mouth. What it’ll taste like, feel like, but more importantly what Louis’ reaction will be.

He licks his palm to try to soothe the glide and wishes he knew if Louis had any lube. They’ve never really don’t anything more than mutual hand jobs when their kissing has gotten hot and heavy, but Harry is curious about what else they could add to it. As he strokes, Louis’ legs twitch in his sleep.

Harry smirks and settles down in the space between Louis’ legs. He presses a few open mouth kisses to his inner thigh while still slowly stroking him.

He takes the head of his cock in his mouth and moans at the taste of some of the precum. When he swirls his tongue, Louis breathes out, “Harry.”

He looks up and sees that Louis still asleep. He takes him deeper, going slowly so he can get use to his mouth being filled. 

Louis groans again when he opens his eyes to see Harry sucking his cock. His eyes seem to glow bright blue. “Harry, fuck.” He throws his head back and reaches down to tangle his fingers in Harry’s hair, urging him to continue. “ _Mierda_.”

Harry comes up to catch his breath and smirks up at Louis. “Morning,” he says casually. 

“You’re going to be the death of me.”

“You’re already dead, though.” He sinks back down and goes as far as he can, choking only slightly before he relaxes his throat. It’s not until he shifts his hips that he realizes just how hard he is and he’s so tempted to reach down to pull himself off, but he won’t. This is about Louis.

This time, Louis’ eyes do flash and when he opens his mouth, his fangs drop down for only a moment but it’s long enough for Harry’s eyes to lock onto them. “Shit, sorry,” Louis says and they’re gone just as fast. “I couldn’t control myself.”

Harry leans up, his hand stilling on Louis’ cock as he continues to stare at Louis’ mouth. 

“Are you okay?” Louis asks, moving his hand from Harry’s hair to the side of his face. He wipes the spit off of Harry’s mouth.

“Lou,” Harry says, breathing deeply.

Louis sits up on his knees, cupping Harry’s face with both hands now, concern on his face. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to flash them. We can stop if you feel uncomfortable.”

“Lou, please bite me,” Harry breathes out, gripping Louis’ hips. He knows he’s been having dreams about being bitten by Louis and he’s always woken up feeling disappointed and slightly craving it, but after seeing Louis’ fangs in all their sharp glory, it’s all he can think about.

Louis furrows his brow and leans back. “What?”

“Louis,” Harry says making sure to not sound too desperate. “I really want you to bite me. I promise I’m not scared or anything. You have no idea how much I’ve been wanting you to bite me.”

“Harry, I-I can’t. You can’t possibly want that after everything you’ve been through.” He starts to pull away but Harry stops him by crawling into his lap. 

“Louis, look at me, read my emotions,” Harry pleads, taking Louis’ hands in his. “I’ve been having dreams for so long about you biting me and how good it’ll feel. You’re not Finn. You’re not going to hurt me. I want this. And I think you do too?” He bites his lips as he waits.

Louis studies him for a moment, no doubt using his ability to check to see if Harry is really telling the truth. He opens his mouth as if he’s going to speak but then closes it, searching Harry’s eyes for something. “I can’t, H.” He looks down to there entwined hands, rubbing his thumb over Harry’s knuckles. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Harry’s heart feels like it’s breaking and he has no idea why he’s being affected so much by this rejection. He nods. “Okay,” he whispers and gets off the bed, any idea of continuing with his morning activity long gone now. “I don’t want to force you into something you don’t want to do.” He hesitates by the bathroom door. “I’m going to take a shower and get breakfast started.”

Louis watches as he goes, staying quiet.

As Harry showers, he tries not to feel too dejected, but it’s hard. He truly thought he and Louis were on the same page. After all, one of Louis’ favorite places to kiss Harry, other than on the lips of course, is his neck. Harry’s noticed how Louis will linger when he pulls away. It doesn’t make sense to him. 

Once he’s showered, he dresses and grabs his phone on the way out of the bedroom. Louis is pulling out his own clothes as he passes through. Harry pauses when he gets to the stairs, out the windows lining the staircase, he sees a blanket of pure white snow covering the grounds. 

Winter finally came.

 

_Louis_

Louis can still feel how hurt Harry is even as the human goes down to the second floor. He takes his time showering and getting dressed, opening the hidden mini-fridge in his closet to feed. The picture of Harry feeling completely undone just by sucking Louis’ cock sticks in his mind and as he feeds from the blood bag, he pictures he’s drinking from Harry. It’s not as good as it could be. 

He kicks himself for being so stupid. It was obvious how Harry felt and Louis was right there with him. He was ready to pin Harry down and bite him. He can easily imagine the whines Harry would release as he fed. He’s dreamt of those whines numerous times.

But soulmates aren’t real. What are the chances that he bites Harry and nothing happens? He doesn’t know if he can stand that level of hurt again.

 

When he goes downstairs a few hours later, he sees a note on the fridge. 

_For when you get hungry -H_

Louis opens it up and sees a plate of pancakes and bacon in the center alone with another note. _Not for Niall._

Louis smiles sadly at the gesture and pushes his hearing out to find Harry. When he doesn’t hear him in the house, he panics only slightly and pushes it out farther. His still heart breaks when he hears muffled sniffles coming from the greenhouse.

“I’m an idiot.”

“You probably are,” Niall walking into the kitchen wearing a winter coat unzipped and a toboggan with snow dusted on it. “What did you do?”

“Nothing,” Louis tries to shrug off.

Niall raises an eyebrow. “Does that nothing have anything to do with a certain set of footprints going in the direction of the greenhouse?”

Louis winces and blushes in shame. “Yeah, that nothing.”

“What happened? I had to keep Liam from following him. Thought Haz might need some alone time.”

“I-” Louis runs his fingers through his hair. “Harry asked to be bitten this morning, and I told him no. I-I told him no because what if soulmates are real but Harry and I aren’t? What if they aren’t and I end up draining him because I can’t control myself? What if I end up hurting him or scaring him or pushing him too far? I love him way too much to risk any of that.”

“Oh, Lou,” Niall comes over and crushes Louis to his chest. Tears Louis didn’t know had fallen wet the front of Niall’s shirt. “Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”

Louis sniffles. “That’s from _A Cinderella Story,_ you dick.” He huffs out a laugh.

“Yeah, but it applies here.” Niall pulls back. “You shouldn’t let you past fully dictate your future. I’ve seen you and Harry together. I may not have an ability yet, but even I know that the two of you are something special, whether soulmates are real or not.”

“Thanks, Nialler.” Louis wipes his face off with the corner of his shirt.

“Anytime, Lou,” Niall says and goes over to the fridge and rustles around in there. 

Louis takes a deep breath and rushes upstairs to pull on his snow gear. He has a Harry to get to.

 

He finds Harry sitting on their bench in one of the annexes. His eyes are red and slightly swollen and he looks up when Louis enters.

“Hi,” Louis says quietly. “Can I join you?”

Harry nods and wipes his face. 

Louis sits down reaches over to take Harry’s hands in his, wiping a few stray tears away. “I need to explain myself-”

“No, no, no,” Harry protests, shaking his head. “You don’t have to. You don’t want to bite me and I have to respect that.”

“I do, though,” Louis says and Harry’s eyes widen.

“You- you do?”

Louis nods and releases a breathy laugh. “It’s been driving me crazy with how much I want to. And it scares me because I never want to hurt you.” He squeezes Harry’s hands. “You mean the absolute world to me and the mere idea of hurting you kills me inside. And,” he trails off feeling embarrassed. “And I was afraid of us potentially being soulmates. I didn’t want to lose you if it turns out that were not.”

“Lou,” Harry says and sighs. “I’m not Thomas,” he says gently. “Even if we’re not, I won’t care. I’m in love with you. I want to be with you and only you, no matter what.”

“Do you still want me to bite you?” Louis asks, wincing slightly, worried that he ruined the mood. “I know it’s not the most romantic setting now with both of us crying and all.”

Harry chuckles. “Lou, we’re surrounded by a least one thousand flowers. We’re at peak romance.”

Louis snorts and relaxes. “Could have a fat baby cupid floating around here to make it more appropriate.” 

Harry smiles and wipes the last of the tears away. He feels more at ease and eager than he did when Louis first step into the greenhouse. “Will you bite me now?”

“Only if you’re ready.”

Harry nods and leans his head to the side, gripping Louis’ hands. 

He releases one of them so he can cradle Harry’s neck and scoots closer. “Don’t tense up, darling, and take a deep breath. I’ll stop whenever you tell me to.”

Harry squeezes Louis’ hand once. “I promise, Lou.”

Louis takes a shaky breath but leans in. He presses one, two, three kisses to the curve of Harry’s neck before he drops his fangs and sinks them into his flesh. He groans at the taste of his blood and feels Harry do the same, the human’s hand gripping his tightly.

Suddenly, rainbows burst behind Louis’ eyelids and he feels something settle in his chest as he slows down his feeding. He pulls away and stares at Harry wide-eyed.

_What was that?_ Louis hears inside his head and he gasps. _Say that again_ , he demands.

“Say what? I didn’t say anything,” Harry says before he too gasps. “You didn’t say anything either!”

Louis mind reels and he clutches Harry close to him. _Harry_.

“What?” Harry asks bewildered. “What’s happening and why can I hear your voice in my head?”  But he already knows what it is, if his thoughts are anything to go by.

Louis smiles so big he feels like his face could split in two. _Harry, Harry, Harry. We’re soulmates._

Harry laughs and throws himself on top of Louis, his limbs going everywhere. “This is crazy! I can feel your emotions.” _Can you read my mind too?_

Louis nuzzles into Harry’s neck and laps up the blood still dripping, his saliva closing the wound. “Yes, I can darling.”

“This is crazy,” he repeats, bring his hands to cup Louis’ face. “You’ll have to teach me how to control all of this.”

Louis smiles and brings Harry forward for an open mouth kiss. _We’ll learn together._

 

 

**Epilogue**

 

_Harry_

Harry is warm. The sun is streaming in through the windows and brightens the room of their bungalow. He shuffles backwards and Louis’ arms tighten around him, trying to get him to stay still, even though the vampire is still asleep.

It’s been one year since Louis and Harry soulbonded, and Harry feels incredibly happy. As it turns out, being soulmates also ties Harry and Louis’ souls together once Louis feeds. He knows eventually he’ll have to Turn and join the undead club, but it’s something that can wait. In the meantime, he and Louis have spent the better part of the year getting to know each other more and traveling the world. 

It didn’t take much to get Louis to agree to spend their one year anniversary somewhere warm and tropical.

He shifts until he’s face to face with the vampire and he takes in the sight of his love. Just the sight of him is enough to make Harry’s heart stutter. He feels so lucky to be able to call this gorgeous creature _his,_ and Louis will ever only be Harry’s, just like Harry will ever only be Louis’.

Slowly, he brings a hand up to trace the three freckles on Louis’ check, the ones he loves so much. He leans forward a presses a kiss to each one before he sits up slightly to trail his kisses down Louis’ neck.

Louis rolls over onto his back and Harry takes that a sign to continue. He throws a leg over the vampire and follows the trail down Louis’ neck and over his collarbones while Louis slowly wakes up.

“Time is it?” Louis asks, his voice heavy with sleep. 

“Not sure, just woke up.”

Louis hums and tangles a hand in Harry’s hair encouraging him. “Woke up and decided you wanted to attack me, huh?”

“Well, you look delicious, how could I resist?”

Louis chuckles softly. “You told me I couldn’t comment on your taste but you can about me?”

Harry hovers over Louis, waiting for him to open his eyes. “How about you can say it once a month if you feel like?”

Louis looks up at him and smiles, tilting his head up and capturing Harry’s lips. “ _Deal_.”

Harry hums around the kiss and slowly grinds down, feeling Louis’ cock start to harden. He trails his hands down to take them both in hand. 

“Fuck,” Louis whispers and brings a hand around to Harry’s bum. He circles a finger around his hole and Harry whimpers into his mouth. “Still open from last night?”

Harry nods ever so slightly and pushes back. “Fuck me, Lou.” He’s been feeling insatiable recently. 

Louis slowly tucks two fingers inside and groans at the warmth. He leans up and captures Harry’s lips once more and slowly fucks his fingers in and out of Harry’s hole just to wind him up. “Stop touching yourself.”

Harry whimpers but lets go of both their cocks in favor of pushing himself back onto Louis’ fingers.

Louis reaches across the bed and pulls out the bottle of lube they used last night. He coats his fingers and rubs it around to warm it up before tucking them back inside Harry to spread him open gently.

Harry hums and leans up, riding Louis’ fingers and relishing in the feeling. 

_You’re so fucking beautiful_. Louis thinks, and Harry preens at the praise.

Two fingers become three, and soon, Harry is whining. “Need your cock,” he says and getting the lube to rub over Louis’ length.

“Go ahead, darling. Take what you want,” Louis says and steadies Harry’s hips as he rises on his knees, grips Louis’ cock, and slowly sinks down on it.

Harry hisses at the slight stretch of Louis’ cock filling him but hums in satisfaction once he settles all the way down.

Louis looks good like this, Harry thinks to himself. Beneath Harry, hair a mess from sleep, lips red and swollen from kissing, and blue eyes bright. Harry circles his hips, just wanting to feel full and feel Louis everywhere.

“Oh, fuck,” Louis mutters and throws his head back when Harry clinches around him. “You’re such a tease.”

Harry grins and bites his lip. _You love it though_. But soon just feeling full isn’t enough and he has to sink up and down on Louis’ cock. He starts out at a slow pace, taking his time and wanting to make this last.

Louis gets impatient though and rolls them over so he’s on top. 

Harry gives Louis all the control and tucks his knees to his chest and lets Louis pick up the pace. He’s jolted up the bed and he groans as Louis hits his prostate on almost every thrust. “Fuck, Louis, oh my god,” Harry says and he whimpers, digging his nails into the skin of Louis’ back.

“I know, darling. You love my cock don’t you?”

Harry nods and dips his head back against the pillows. “You feel so good, Lou. I never want you to stop fucking me.”

Louis hums and leans forward, pushing his cock deeper into Harry. “We have all the time in the world to do this, my love.” He slows down but feels like he’s going deeper and deeper with each thrust as Louis cups Harry’s face with one hand, wiping the tears away. “You know why?”

Harry nods and keeps eye contact with Louis, his arms coming up to wrap around Louis’ shoulders. “Yeah, I do.”

“Why’s that?”

Harry whimpers when Louis’ hits his prostate again and he tightens his legs around the vampire. “Because we’re soulmates,” he whispers breathlessly.

Louis growls and crashes his lips against Harry’s for a moment before he pushes Harry’s head to the side so he can have access to his neck.

Harry goes willingly, knowing exactly what Louis is getting ready to do. 

“Come, darling,” Louis whispers before he extends his fangs and bites down.

Harry yells as heat wraps around him and he feels himself release between their chests. He’s breathing heavily and keeps a hand on the back of Louis’ neck. Louis doesn’t take much, only a few mouthfuls, but presses open mouth kisses to Harry’s neck. 

He feels full and keeps his legs wrapped around Louis’ waist to keep his cock inside as Louis fills him up. Harry hums and runs his fingers through Louis’ hair, messing it up even further.

_I love you so much._

Louis leans up and kisses him gently. _I love you too, darling._

Harry can’t wait to spend forever with him.

 

The End 

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you enjoyed it! Please leave comment and/or kudos (I live those for tbh). And come talk fic with me at [daggerandrose](http://daggerandrose.tumblr.com)!
> 
> I also made a [twitter](https://twitter.com/dagger_rosefics) pretty recently so follow me on there too if you feel like it.
> 
> And lastly, here is the [fic post](https://daggerandrose.tumblr.com/post/184009707505/for-you-id-bleed-myself-dry-50k-by)!


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